Treat Me Good Tonight
by TinyHeartBeat
Summary: AJ Lee is finally standing up to her egotistical boyfriend, Daniel Bryan. Despite his nasty attitude, she still loves him yet is it enough for her to make the right decisions when CM Punk walks into her life?
1. Chapter 1

Ever since Daniel became champion, he did change. Not the guy you see on your TV screens every Friday night, but the guy she went home with after the show ends. He's got the gold now, and now she feels like as if she took a backseat to the belt. Mind you, she'd be just as proud if she was the Diva's champ, but she wouldn't let her head get to big. She'd still be herself, plain old AJ. You're not going to be champion forever, or maybe she was being bitter, she thought. She wanted his attention, and she wasn't getting any of it.

"AJ are you done packing? Let's go to the hotel now." Daniel ordered her, bringing her back to reality. She realised that she had more stuff to put in her bag and she hurried quickly so Daniel wouldn't get too upset.

"I think I'm set. Did you bring the car right in front?"

"AJ, of course I did." He said rolling his eyes. He gave the dressing room one last scan and headed for the door. "Let's go" he said, grabbing her by the arm and dragged her out like a child. She quickly jerked it away. She was his girlfriend, not his kid.

"Don't grab me like that. I've told you multiple times. I'm not a kid." Her eyes opened wide. She couldn't believe she just talked to him like that.

"Oh AJ, I don't have time for this nonsense, I need to get some sleep because tomorrow I have to be at a signing at 8AM and it's already 1. Are you coming or not?" he said, already fed up.

"No... I think I'll stay a bit longer, you go on without me." She managed to say without making any direct eye contact. She could feel her heart pounding; she didn't even know what she was saying.

He gave her a look of disgust while eyeing her up and down and said, "Fine, do whatever you want. Don't call me because you couldn't find a ride. Have fun." And in a split second he was out of the door.

_Baby no; let's go together_, she imagined him saying in her mind. She pictured a scenario where Daniel would drop his bags and ask her what was bothering her but she soon heard the engine roar and Daniel driving off without her.

Though it was her fault after all; she didn't want to go with him. She didn't give him any choice.

She took a deep breath and put her bags down again. She wanted to go home but not with Bryan, so she headed for the corridors in the hopes of finding someone who could give her a ride. There should be some divas still running around somewhere, she thought to herself. She then thought about getting a cab despite the fact that she always felt a bit uneasy and insecure when riding a taxi at 1 in the morning, especially in a city she's not familiar with.

The halls were mostly filled with the cleaning staff and other crew members and to her dismay, not a diva in sight. She wanted to call Kaitlyn but she knew that she was home already cuddled up with Ziggler. She still needed time to completely digest the fact that her best friend was dating Dolph Ziggler. They were so different from each other, but then again opposites do attract, she thought to herself.

She found it quite odd that there weren't any superstars hanging around. How could this happen? After every show several of her colleagues always stick around till the very end but now that she was in need of some help, everyone seemed to have disappeared. Clearly it wasn't one of her best nights. Why couldn't she just shut up and go with Daniel? She would be already half way to the hotel right now.

As she rushed through another endless corridor, she found CM Punk sitting on a chair with his iPhone in his hands. He was probably tweeting. He's addicted to Twitter. He was still shirtless and he was only wearing a pair of shorts on top of his wrestling gear. He was still in his wrestling boots and knee caps. For some reason, he liked staying in his ring attire. AJ, for one liked taking everything off the minute she's ready from her match. She hated being sweaty.

She gulped as she ran a hand through her hair. She would've preferred if she found Natalya or Maxine, or any other diva for that matter but CM Punk would have to do for tonight. She wasn't close with any of the male superstars because Daniel would get all suspicious for nothing if he ever saw her talking to another male and it was best for her to avoid all the drama all together.

She slowly walked up to him, and he finally looked up and gave her a warm smile.

"You still here AJ? Where's that lunatic you call for a boyfriend at?" he jokingly said. If only he knew what happened behind closed doors. Bryan always acted normal around his friends giving the impression that he treated her good and that he was in a good, healthy relationship. In reality, it was all the way round; not even once did he ever compliment her or tell her that she's beautiful. Everything that she does is simply wrong in his eyes.

"Uh... he left early cause he has a busy day tomorrow." She said nervously. He didn't need to know the whole story. That's personal.

"And you're still here?" he said raising an eyebrow. His phone vibrated in his hands but he ignored it.

"Yeah, it's kind of a long story..." she said anxiously, looking everywhere except at Punk, "I sort of need to go home... and..."

"And you want me to give you a ride." He said finishing her sentence. She mentally thanked him for making it easy for her. She didn't like to beg.

"If you can't it's totally fine. I can find somebody else, it's not a problem." She quickly said. She didn't want to sound so desperate even though she really was.

He smiled at her and said, "Why wouldn't I give Danny's girl a ride!" Danny is a nickname Punk gave him back during their Ring of Honor days. Daniel still gets worked up over it, even after all these years. Punk liked to watch him get pissed off because of it. She called him Danny once, and he refused to talk to her for the rest of the day.

"Thanks a lot Punk. I really owe you one!" She was glad that she finally found someone, even if it was a man, a though it _was_ CM Punk, she thought to herself. He is Daniel's friend so it shouldn't be that bad.

"Pshh don't mention it. It's nothing. So where are you staying at?" he said getting up and sliding his phone in his back pocket.

"Uh I don't actually know the name, but I've got directions so..." Her face turned into a bright red colour. It was hard remembering every hotel she stayed at. Almost every week she's in a different hotel room, how could one possibly remember them all?

He laughed at her and ran his fingers through his hair, "So got your bags?"

"What? We're going now? Don't you need to change?" This was starting to get awkward.

"Nah, I'll just put a t-shirt on. I'll take a shower when I'll get to the hotel, which also by the way, I think we're both staying at the same one since almost all of us are there. You shouldn't be an exception." He said winking at her.

She gave him a weak smile and told him to wait for her to get her bags from her locker room. In a couple of minutes she came back with 2 suitcases and a luggage. Usually Daniel would carry them for her but tonight she was on her own. "What the hell do you have in them? Rocks?" he used to say. If you're a diva, you need to be your best and if it requires you to carry around a ton of things then so be it.

"Damn." Punk said now wearing a white tee, "This is all yours? All I got is this small bag. What do you need all this stuff for?" he said taking the luggage from her hand.

"This doesn't happen in a couple of minutes!" she jokingly said pointing up and down at herself. She was never this comfortable around any other superstar before.

"Whatever you say, AJ." He said shaking his head.

She felt herself calm down as she wasn't nervous anymore. She was relieved that she found someone to give her a ride and it was Punk, him and Daniel have been friends for years; this shouldn't be bad after all, she assured herself again. She felt safe and she didn't have to worry about some creepy old taxi driver. Plus Daniel trusts Punk so there shouldn't be an argument tomorrow when Daniel wakes up... well at least she hoped.

"Are you all set?" he asked her and she gave him a small nod. Within minutes they were in his black SUV driving down an unfamiliar road. Rock music blasted through the speakers. She didn't know who the band was but she didn't care. The wind was blowing through her hair and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt peaceful for the first time in many weeks. For a couple of moments there, her troubles faded away. Daniel and his problems didn't exist and she felt happy.

"So how are you and Daniel doing?" That lasted long, she thought to herself. Thanks Punk. She opened her eyes and gave Punk a disappointed look for disturbing her peaceful moment.

"Ah, well you know. Like any other couple. We have our good and bad times. Mostly bad times but we always work it out." She said shifting her gaze back to the street.

"So how long have you been dating now?" Punk, please stop.

"Uhm, I don't know. A year maybe."

"What kind of girlfriend doesn't know how long she's been in a relationship? Do you even know when your anniversary is?"

"Punk, please. Not now. I'm trying to enjoy this. Stop bringing Daniel up." She snapped.

"Geez, sorry. Didn't know you were going through a rough patch." He said looking at her for a second and then back at the road.

"We're not going through a rough patch." She angrily retorted. She shouldn't act like this, especially when he was giving her a free ride.

"Then why are you like this?" he said scratching his beard.

"I'm not like anything. Punk are you sure I am staying in the same hotel as you are?" She tried changing the subject.

"Well... he is staying there so I believe you're staying in the same room so..." Back to square one.

"Oh okay. Thanks." She was irritated and mad at the same time. It wasn't Punk's fault but she couldn't help the way she felt.

The next few minutes none of them uttered a single word. She kept looking outside her window and prayed that they will arrive soon to the hotel. How long could it take? All of the superstars check into the nearest hotel so no one would be late.

"Wait did I see this house already? Punk, are we lost?" For the first time in a while she looked at him again and she could see there was a look of worry on his face. "Punk don't do this to me right now, it's 2 in the morning. I can't afford this right now!"

"No one said we were lost, ok!" he growled. He kept his focus on the road in front of him.

"Then why aren't we at the hotel?"

"Because I missed a turn, that's why."

"Good God, I should've gone with Daniel in the first place!" She couldn't believe how selfish she was sounding right now.

"Yeah, why didn't you go with him anyways? You've been moody ever since we left the building. What is up with you?"

"Punk, I can't tell you. I don't even know you that well. You and Daniel have been friends for a long time, and I don't want to ruin anything. What is happening is between me and him and that's it." She said crossing her arms. She wanted to tell him because finally there was someone willing to listen to her but Punk wasn't the right guy. As much as she wanted to get everything off her chest, she couldn't.

"Is this about him being an egotistical asshole?" She suddenly looked up to him as if he read her mind. "Hey, I may be friends with the dude but I can spot an asshole when I see one. I'm an asshole myself so." He said shrugging his shoulders.

"... How did you know?" she finally caved in. She might regret this later, she thought to herself but at that moment she didn't care, she had to let it all out.

"I already told you, plus almost everyone noticed how much he has changed over the last few weeks. It's gone through his head and I don't think that anyone could bring him back to being old normal Danny boy."

She bit her lip and forced herself not to cry. She couldn't talk or else she'll burst out and that was the last thing she wanted to do in front of CM Punk.

"I mean I love the guy, but it's not just me who have noticed, it's a lot of us. He doesn't treat you the way you should be treated and you know that." His eyes still fixed on the road. He was speaking the truth, there was no denying it but even if she agreed with him, she would've gained nothing. Yeah, so what if her boyfriend treats her like trash? Once she's at the hotel room, she's going into his bed. He's going to kick her in his sleep and even elbow her in the ribs because he also dreams of being in the ring. Being treated like dirt or not, it doesn't matter. Deep down she loves him and even she doesn't know why, but she does.

"AJ are you alright?" Punk finally said after a couple of minutes of silence.

"No..." she whispered. She finally let tears roll down her cheek. She couldn't hold it any longer, her eyes were too watery. She kept everything bottled up and now everything was going to come out.

"Hey hey, don't cry now." Punk said in a comforting voice. He parked on the side of the road and turned the engine off. There were no cars in sight so he didn't need to turn the hazard button on.

"No Punk, keep going, I want to make it before 3." She said wiping her face with her sleeve.

"No AJ. I think there are more important things to do. Tell me what's wrong. I promise you, and I mean really, look at me AJ." He said lightly touching her chin. Their eyes finally met and with a soothing voice he said, "Whatever you say, it's going to stay between us. If you want to let it all out, you can do it right now. You might not get another chance like this so do it."

She spent the next 30 minutes crying her eyes out and telling Punk how awful Bryan is, yet why she loves him. He tried holding her the best way he could in their car and he caressed her hair while she finally got everything off her chest. With Daniel she never had a chance to have any girl talk with Kaitlyn because he always wanted her to be with him always. It might be Punk but she had to settle with what she had.

"I didn't know Bryan was like that." Punk finally said wiping a tear off her face with his thumb.

"Please Punk, tell me what I am going to do..." she said looking up to him. He looked down into her brown eyes and kept their gaze for a couple of seconds. He licked his lips and bit his bottom lip.

"I uh... don't know AJ. I've never experienced something like this before. I may be an asshole but I always treat my girls right. I would never treat you like he does. What kind of a man is he, Jesus."

"He never tells me that he loves me, he just says 'Yeah, me too' like it's nothing for him. I wish he could just for once hold me, and look into my eyes and tell me that he loves me and mean it."

"AJ you deserve better and you know it. I don't need to tell you anything. You know, your heart knows what you want. Don't be with him if he's doing this to you. You deserve better." And he gave her a kiss on her forehead. She looked up to him again and kept staring into his bright green eyes. She bit her lip.

"Aj... no..." Punk whispered into the night. She didn't say anything but instead bit her lower lip. His eyes darted from her lips back to her eyes. She felt so lonely in this world. "AJ, you're upset, you don't know what you're doing." She laid a finger on his lips and with the other hand switched off the only light that was shining in the car. Thanks to her tiny frame, she managed to climb on top of him in the driver's seat without any trouble and stood there looking at him in the dark. His hands were on her hips and he tried to get her off. "AJ, please, don't do this."

She grabbed his hands and laced her fingers between his. She leaned in closer, inches away from his mouth. "Can you treat me like one of your girls, just for tonight?" she whispered. He could feel her hot breath. "Is that what you really want?" he asked. She nodded and he sighed.

He grabbed her by her face and ran his other hand through her hair and pushed her in for a kiss. Her cheeks were still burning hot from the crying and they were damp as well but nevertheless he still kept going. AJ was so used to Daniel's lips that when it came to Punk she was surprised at how different he kissed. She didn't know if she liked it or not but she continued experimenting with him. She tugged onto his hair and pushed herself against him even more. She liked the way his lip ring felt against her skin. She knew what she was doing, she might regret it later but right now it felt it was the right thing to do.

She felt something move underneath her and a smile crept on her face. She looked down and back up to him. He sure as hell didn't take a lot to get hard, she thought to herself, but then again why complain? She made her way from his mouth down to his neck, kissing every exposed area. She liked the way how his beard rubbed against her face, it wasn't like Daniel's. His scent was another thing. He wasn't dirty nor he was clean, she knew he had yet to shower but she wanted to give him a really good reason why he needed a shower. She tugged on his plain white tee and lifted it up. She could faintly see his tattoos in the dark and she put her hands on his chest. He cupped her breasts and then quickly pulled her shirt off exposing her tiny figure and blue bra. He took a couple of seconds to look at her.

He slowly pulled down one of straps and then soon after the next one. His lips went to her neck, sucking and biting while his hands unclasped her bra. She didn't care if a car passed them by and saw her right now. It was pretty dark though and it was 2 in the morning so chances were very slim.

"I want you..." she breathed into his ear.

"Climb into the back, we can't do this right here." He said giving her a rough peck on her lips. She was glad he wanted to do this as much as she did. This really showed how unimportant Punk's friendship with Daniel was to him. She thought about it for a second but she didn't want to get way too conscious so she let the worrying part after the having fun part.

She nodded and in a brief second she was right on top of him in the back seat only this time she wasn't wearing any pants. She somehow managed to pull down his shorts from his elastic waist and realised that he was still in his wrestling gear. Spandex or not, they were coming off.

"Remember when you asked me to treat you like one of my girls?" he said breathing heavily.

"Mhm, yeah." she said between kisses. She looked up to meet those green eyes.

"Let me show you then." And he pushed her on her back and climbed on top of her. To her surprise, it was quite roomy at the back. She relaxed her body in the hands of Punk; she knew he was going to take care of her good tonight. It was all about her right now, not about Daniel, not about anyone but her.

She looked up to him and saw the light from the street hitting his face. She never realised how gorgeous and manly he looked. He grabbed a handful of her hair and started kissing her again. She liked it rough like that. He bit her lower lip and with his right hand opened her legs and slowly slipped in a finger and then added another one after a couple of thrusts. She wriggled in his hands.

"Stop it and just fuck me, Punk." She demanded. She was surprised with how those words left her lips. She would never say such a thing to Daniel Bryan. With Daniel, she'd just lay there and take it like sex wasn't something to be enjoyed by both parties.

He licked his lips and nodded. "Are you ready?" He said and he pushed himself into her and started thrusting back and forth. Her heart was picking up a fast pace and she dug her finger nails through his hips as they moved simultaneously with every push. She closed her eyes and let herself enjoy this even though she was aware that she's going to regret this later on but right now she didn't care.

"Open your eyes AJ; I want you to see everything." Punk said stroking her cheek with his thumb. She did as he said and looked down at herself as Punk was sliding in and out so smoothly. She couldn't help it as moans left her mouth and he smiled. He was proud that he could make a woman act like that.

He kissed her again and made his way down kissing every part of her neck and collar bone and set his lips onto her left breast and worked on it. She ran her fingers through his gelled hair as she looked down on him.

He suddenly picked up his pace, "Is this too much for you?" he said looking down at her. She rolled her eyes backwards as her lips trembled. "Can you go any faster?" she slowly whispered. He couldn't believe what he just heard. Sometimes girls made him stop because they couldn't take it anymore and AJ was asking for more. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and nodded. He repositioned himself and grabbed her from her shoulders. He pushed himself whole and started pounding in her. Their short breaths and moans filled the car as he kept going without any pauses.

"Ugh, I'm so close" she said wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I'll make you cum, baby." He whispered into her ear and then licked and bit her earlobe. She could feel his hot breath and hear his barely audible moans. This turned her on even more.

"P-Punk please..." she groaned. She couldn't take it anymore."Please..." she repeated again.

He got up and lifted up one of her legs. He tried going even faster than he already was and with his thumb he rubbed her clit vigorously. Her body arched and tilted her head backwards. "Look at me when you cum." He said going harder and faster.

She tried opening her eyes but she couldn't as it felt closer and closer and she wrapped her legs around his waist and groaned loudly. "Oh, oh, oh my God..." and she finally reached her climax.

She suddenly felt herself getting wetter and as she looked down, his dick was covered in her own cum. She felt embarrassed. "I can't believe you can come like that." He said amazed as he looked down at her. She felt herself get red in the cheeks and giggled though she didn't feel that shy anymore, in fact it gave her an extra confidence boost.

"Now it's my turn." She said as she pushed him up and sat on him. She started riding him whilst pulling his hair and biting his neck. She didn't even know who she was at that moment.

With his hands on her hips he helped her riding him faster as they kept going for the next 10 minutes after finally blowing his load inside her. They remained in the same position trying to catch their breaths. When her heart rate finally came back to normal she looked down and saw the sticky situation that was going on in their lower region.

"I hope you have some tissues." She said as she got off and sat next to him. She felt a little bit disgusted with all the bodily fluids. She doesn't mind it during sex, but when it's over, she hated feeling sticky. When she finished with Daniel, she usually goes and takes a shower but since they're in a car, she had to wait a bit to take one.

"Uh, sure." He said. Suddenly the air between them changed. They felt awkward being naked together and everything just seemed so wrong.

He reached for a box of tissues and they both cleaned themselves up. In a matter of minutes, they were both fully dressed and back on the road back to the hotel.

It was already apparent that they were pretending that what they did didn't actually happen but the car still smelled of sex and she started to hate it as much as she started to hate herself. She rolled down the window to clear the air even though it was freezing cold.

Surprisingly, it didn't take much to get to the hotel, unlike earlier. She looked at her phone and it was 2.30AM by now. Guilt and shame were written all over her face.

They finally reached their destination and Punk parked in the nearest space available. "Um, thanks Punk for the... uh ride." She said as she opened the car door, not even making eye contact.

She hurried off to the entrance but someone grabbed her from her arm and stopped her. She turned around, ready to slap someone but she immediately met Punk's eyes.

"What do you want Punk? Haven't we done enough?" she said in a desperate voice. What has she done? To herself, to Bryan. He didn't deserve this as much as she wanted to throw a chair at him, he didn't deserve this.

"Kiss me." He said in a low voice.

"What? No." And she tried to remove her hand from Punk's grip. His grip reminded her much of the way Daniel grabs her when he wants to leave somewhere.

"I know you want to, AJ. You're just feeling guilty about Bryan. Kiss me." He repeated.

She looked him dead in the eyes. "So it's going to be like that?"

"Look, you treated me good and that's what I wanted; someone to make me feel like I matter. Now it's over Punk. I'll get back to my life and you get back to yours. Don't make this complicated. It doesn't have to be." She was getting furious. Did this guy ever hear of 'no strings attached'?

"Do you really mean that?"

"Let me go."

He loosened his grip and let her walk away. She barged her way into the lobby and asked the receptionist for her key. She remembered that she left her bags in Punk's car but she wasn't going back there, not anytime soon.

She slowly tiptoed into her room and she could hear Daniel snoring from the bedroom. She let out a sigh of relief that he didn't stay up and wait for her. Well she didn't bet on it, anyways.

She took off her dirty clothes and wore one of Daniel's shirts and slowly crept into bed next to him. She heard him mumble something in his sleep and she froze till he started snoring again. She let out a silent sigh and tried getting some sleep not ready for what tomorrow awaits her.


	2. Chapter 2

AJ Lee woke up the next morning in an empty bed. She rubbed her eyes and yawned as she looked around herself till she got familiar with her surroundings. The sun was peeping through the edges of the curtains and the clock read 11AM. She was glad she didn't oversleep much, but she wished she was up when Daniel left. At least she could kiss him goodbye like a good girlfriend should do.

There was still a faint smell of cologne lingering in the room which meant that Daniel left only minutes before she woke up. She got up from her bed and went to the bathroom. She splashed her face with some water and looked at herself in the mirror. Last night was a dream right? She asked herself out loud. But how could dreams be so vivid? She remembered everything and she knew she was lying to herself. Last night was as real as it could get. She cheated on her boyfriend with one of his best buddies.

She could still feel CM Punk's touch, she could also remember how he kissed, how he smelled. She remembered everything so clearly. She felt like she still had his scent on her, and as if Daniel was going to sniff him out like a dog, she started running a hot shower. She wanted to wash away everything but she knew it was all for nothing, but at least she'll smell like strawberries now.

As the water hit her back, she stood there with her eyes closed, replaying everything from start to finish. She couldn't help feeling that tingling sensation in her tummy as if there were butterflies waiting to burst out. She didn't like this feeling, especially since she's experiencing it while thinking about CM Punk and not her boyfriend.

She suddenly felt glad that she missed Daniel that morning. How could she face him after what she did? Could she still look him in the eye and tell him that she loves him? Even if he responded with a 'Thanks'. What if Punk tells him? What if Punk told him right now?

Her heart started picking up its pace and she started to panic. She had to talk to Punk but she didn't want to see him. This was so messed up; she didn't know what to do. Well he had her bags, they had to talk eventually. She wasn't going to spend the rest of her trip wearing 'YES! YES! YES!' shirts.

She washed herself quickly, got out and dried herself up. She put on the same pants she had yesterday and got out a brand new shirt from Daniel's bag. She brushed her hair into a cute, low ponytail and put on some eyeliner.

She wanted to go and find Punk but what if he already left? What if he had other plans? Suddenly she heard a knock at her door which caused her to jump. She wasn't expecting anything or anyone. Daniel usually puts the 'Do Not Disturb' sign every time he left her alone in the room, and she knew today was no different.

'_Knock, Knock'_ there it was again. It must be something important she thought to herself and she slowly went and opened the door.

"Sorry ma'am" a bellboy said clearing his throat "I didn't want to disturb you but the man in room 307 said that these bags belong to you?" he said.

And there they were. Her two suitcases and luggage were behind this glorious bellboy, all he needed was a halo around his head because at that moment, he looked like an angel sent from heaven to her. An angel that made her avoid an encounter with CM Punk.

"Oh, thank you so much!" she finally said relieved. She fished for her purse for a tip while he grabbed the bags and put them inside. She finally found 5 dollars and handed it to him.

He was about to leave when he said, "Oh! I almost forgot!" he said turning around again. "The gentleman at room 307 wanted to give you this note." And he took out a small folded paper from his left pocket and placed it in her hand."You have a good day now, ma'am."

She couldn't help but notice his southern accent that suited him well. She found it charming.

The bellboy quickly disappeared down the hallway and she instantly opened her bags and took out the first shirt she could find. She took off Daniel's shirt and threw it across the room. She found one of her favourite cute floral tops and put it on. Finally, she felt girly again.

She remembered the note the bellboy gave her and immediately opened it.

"Meet me tonight at 11pm in my room. – Punk." The note said.

She bit her lip and crumpled the piece of paper in her hand. She opened it and re-read it a couple of times. How in the world was she going to sneak out and meet Punk? How was she going to get away from Daniel? She was instantly baffled at the fact that she already made it obvious that she was going to meet him.

She shook her head. She had fun with Punk but she's already in deep trouble for doing it once, she can't let this be an ongoing thing. She'll just sink deeper and she'll have to pay for it, nobody else.

She paced around her room wondering what Punk wanted. Did he want to hook up again? Or is he so upset that he wanted to apologize? Apologize for what? It's not like he forced her. In fact she was the one who kept asking for more and more.

All these thoughts rushing through her head almost resulted into a headache but she immediately went out in the balcony to get some fresh air.

She looked down at the busy street; everyone was bustling to get to from one point to another. She wondered what they were thinking about at that very second. She scratched her head and leaned over the fence. It was such a nice day to stay inside, yet her boyfriend was out working and all she can do is hide away from CM Punk. She felt pathetic.

"But the sex was great." Her body told her.

Sure it was. It was better than all the times she's had sex with Bryan combined. The way he touched her, the fast pace rhythm of him slipping in and out and the way he grabbed her from her hair and kissed her. She felt herself get red in the face; she knew she was getting excited in her lower regions just by thinking about it. It was such a shame that she had never experienced this with her actual boyfriend.

The crumpled paper was still in her hands and she opened it one last time. It had creases all over but she could still read CM Punk's handwriting perfectly. She shook her head again, uncertain of her decision and slipped it into her back pocket. She ignored it for the rest of the morning.

Finally the clock read 3PM and Daniel Bryan busted through the door, tired and cranky.

"Man, the fans just kept coming and coming, I didn't even take a break!" he said as he opened the mini fridge and took out a small bottled water and downed it in a split second. There goes 5 dollars down the drain, she thought to herself.

AJ looked up to him from the sofa; she was watching the local news and soon thought of the note that was in her back pocket. She reminded herself to act cool as if nothing happened. Everything was going to be okay.

"Come here." She said as she motioned him with her arm to come sit next to her and so he did. It was like handling a child when it came to Daniel.

He slowly yet willingly walked over and sat right next to her and she put her arm around him and started caressing his hair.

"You can rest now so don't worry." She said as she felt his head rest on her shoulder. She wondered about the last time he cuddled her and not the way round, but she couldn't remember.

"Thanks AJ." He said closing his eyes, yet after a couple of seconds she felt his lips kissing her shoulder. _Uh Oh._

No, no, no. That was the only thing going through her mind. She didn't want to do this right now. She was not ready for another go after last night; after all, CM Punk gave her a great pounding.

He propped himself up and repositioned himself as he went for her neck. He kissed, licked, sucked and nibbled while his hands were roaming all over her body. She looked down at his crotch and she knew that he wasn't just fooling around. He wanted the real deal and she wasn't even physically ready for it, let alone mentally.

"D-Daniel, please stop." She said as she grabbed his hands.

"What?" he said with furrowed brows. Never in their relationship did AJ refute Daniel's advances and he would never in a million years expect AJ to say no, especially when he was in the mood.

"I... I'm not feeling it right now, plus you're tired and you need some rest." She said playing with her fingers. She barely made any eye contact with him. She felt so ashamed of herself. Her body didn't respond to any of his actions, yet she felt tingles all over when she thought about Punk. It was so wrong on so many levels.

"Huh..." he said in amazement. He wasn't mad, he was completely surprised but she knew that if she gave him some time, he'll have the worst mood in the world.

She chewed on her bottom lip as she waited for him to say something else.

"Well, I'll go rest, if you say so." He said getting up and went into the bedroom.

She was bewildered with the whole situation. What did just happen? Why didn't he throw a fit? He should be yelling by now and throwing stuff around until the whole place got trashed. This wasn't his normal behavior.

She asked all these questions in her head yet she couldn't come up with an answer... unless, Punk told him something! Maybe that's why he wanted to meet. But then again, if he told him, there wouldn't be the need of a secret meeting, and if he really did tell him Daniel would've turned everything upside down by now.

She quickly realised that she wasn't making any sense at all. She was so confused; she couldn't even make any clear, genuine thoughts. Hah, maybe she was the one who needed the rest and not Daniel, she thought to herself.

With Daniel sleeping she fell bored again and was left with nothing to occupy her time. She didn't hang out with a lot of superstars and she was only close with Kaitlyn, who's been running around with Dolph Ziggler for the past month. It has been a while since they've hung out like they used to, AJ Lee with Daniel and Kaitlyn with Ziggler, and add wrestling to that combo, there just wasn't any time left to do best friend things anymore.

She fumbled for her phone in her purse and finally found it after taking everything out. Of course, it was sitting at the bottom under all her other needless things that she likes to carry around (just in case).

She flipped open her cell phone, thinking that she must be the only superstar left that didn't own an iPhone yet and turned it on. No new messages and no missed calls. That was a surprise. She wished for Daniel to text her once in a while with a nice heartfelt message, so when she'd wake up she'll have something to smile about for the next couple of hours. Her lips curled into a frown and she sighed.

Suddenly she realised that instead of moping around, she should do what she was going to do in the first place and that is text Kaitlyn. She found it quite evident that Daniel takes up so much of her time that she can't even do things without feeling sorry for herself every chance she got. She found her best friend on her contact list and started working her thumbs on the buttons.

She sent the message believing that she won't get a reply since she knew Kaitlyn was always busy doing something other than screwing Ziggler. Kaitlyn was never bored and she always found something to fill her time unlike her best friend. In a flash, her phone vibrated and there was a text from Kaitlyn. That was unexpected of her.

"Come meet me by the pool, bring your bathing suit. X" the message read.

AJ Lee bit her lip and her eyes darted back and forth at her suitcases. She knew she had packed a black bikini with crossbows on them just in case. She looked at her pale skin and thought that she could use a little suntan. She was aware of the fact that her co-workers go to a tanning salon every chance they got but that wasn't something that appealed to her. She actually didn't understand that fascination with the being orange thing in the first place.

She heard Daniel snoring and coughing at the same time which came out as a sort of a gagging noise and she felt repulsed. She made a disgusted face and promptly went for her suitcase to fish for her bikini. She tiptoed into the bathroom and quickly changed. She put on a cute little pink floral beach dress on top and checked herself out in the mirror. She felt satisfied with the way she looked.

She grabbed her lotion, sunglasses and a small towel and before going out the door she took the card that opened the door with her. She didn't want to come back and find herself locked out because Daniel was still snoring inside.

She took the lift and realised that all the time she has spent in the hotel, she didn't even bother to look around. She reached the lobby and headed for the pool area. Luckily she found Kaitlyn almost instantly and she was relieved that she didn't have to look like a lost puppy searching for their owners. Kaitlyn motioned her hand at AJ to come over following with a pat on the deck chair right next to her.

Without any hesitation AJ Lee quickly found herself chilling right next to Kaitlyn under the bright sun. She opened the bottle of suntan lotion and started rubbing some all over her arms and legs. She didn't want to get red like a pumpkin.

"So, what's crackin'?" Kaitlyn said with a toothy smile. She had a book laid open in the middle with its back facing up right next to her. She wondered where Dolph was since they're always attached at the hip.

"Um, nothing new." She lied, "Where's Dolph? I didn't think you can make an afternoon without him." She joked.

"Ha ha very funny." Kaitlyn said slightly annoyed, "You shouldn't be the one to talk since you're always running around Daniel all the time."

Well she had a point. She was so obsessed with her relationship with Daniel that she eventually stopped caring about the few amount of friends that she had. She can't blame Kaitlyn for doing the same exact thing.

They spent the next couple of minutes talking about nonsense and joking around. She missed having this simple life where the only problem was what to wear. They sipped cocktails and laughed and AJ completely forgot about the problems that she left back at her hotel room.

"Looks like we're not the only ones enjoying the sun today." Kaitlyn said as she pointed at a group of people. AJ pulled up her sunglasses and placed them on her head. She followed Kaitlyn's direction and she saw several WWE superstars hanging out near a hot tub, and to her dismay including CM Punk.

If there was ever a chance of AJ getting a tan, now was definitely not the time since she felt herself get pale. Everything was rushing back like a raging fire and she almost felt dizzy.

"Uh... what's wrong?" Kaitlyn said confused. AJ was about to open her mouth when suddenly Kaitlyn cut her off, "oh look they're signalling us to come over. Get your stuff." She said as she got up and gathered her book and towel in her hands. She felt like as if she had her back against a wall, it would be very rude not to join them so she had to close an eye and follow Kaitlyn.

On their way across the pool area she noticed who actually was there: Natalya, Kofi, Punk, Zack Ryder and a few other friends of theirs. She could feel Punk looking at her with hungry eyes and she did her best to avoid eye contact although she managed to get a quick look to see what he was wearing. Just plain black swim shorts and flip-flops. She didn't know he was a flip-flop type of guy and as soon as she thought of this, she mentally slapped herself for thinking such silly thoughts.

"Hey guys, care to join us?" Natalya said smiling as she was the first one to get into the hot tub.

_Please no_, she thought to herself.

"Well why not!" Kaitlyn said showing off her pearly white teeth and she was the second one to get in. She grabbed AJ's arm and dragged her in and soon the others followed suit. This was going to be interesting.

Punk was sitting right across from AJ and she knew he was waiting for her to look up at him. She knew he wanted to tell her something and it was almost killing him. She kept thinking about their first encounter in his car and completely zoned out as she played everything like a movie in her head. She stopped following the conversation the others were having and she couldn't hear their voices anymore.

She slowly looked up at Punk and he immediately met her eyes. She quickly looked the other way and her face flushed a light shade of pink. She hated this, she felt uncomfortable; the only thing that she wanted was to hang out with Kaitlyn and not this. Punk was about to say something but she slowly shook her head and glared at him. He gulped and gave a little nod.

"I'm sorry you guys, but I have to excuse myself." AJ said getting up and out from the hot tub. She grabbed her towel and dried off her hands and legs. "I just realised I forgot to do something. Thanks for everything!" and she easily weaselled herself out of that awkward situation.

She walked back inside at a fast pace, feeling embarrassed and ashamed. She found the elevator and pushed the lift button. She waited for it to come down from the 6th floor.

"You're not off the hook that easily." A familiar voice said from behind and she quickly turned around and saw Kaitlyn with a towel wrapped around her hips. AJ loudly groaned, she really wasn't off the hook.

"Can you explain all the eye fucking back in the hot tub?" she said as she crossed her hands on her chest.

"I didn't what?" she said confused, "I didn't 'eye fuck' anyone." Now she was slightly irritated.

"Well CM Punk sure did." She said raising an eyebrow.

"That's his business not mine." She said as she saw the elevator open. AJ gave a sigh of relief and Kaitlyn stepped right in front of the way instantly. "Oh no you're not." She said, "You're hiding something."

"I am not!" she said as lines were forming on her forehead.

"Save it and just start."

"No."

"So there is something if you're refusing to tell me." Kaitlyn said as she gave a confident smile.

"That doesn't prove anything." AJ said raising her arms. "I have to go Kate, move out of the way."

"I know you have nothing to do AJ. Come on." She said begging her friend to spill out her dirty little secret.

AJ finally gave up and shrugged her shoulders and huffed. "If I must tell you, I can't do it here." She said as she looked around and saw other hotel guests roaming the floor.

"Fair enough." She finally said and grabbed her hand and dragged her into the elevator. She pushed a couple of buttons and as if she felt proud of herself she said, "You have all the time in the world now to tell me. We should be in here a while!"

AJ shook her head in defeat, took a deep breath and started confessing.


	3. Chapter 3

It took only a couple of minutes for AJ to air out her so called sin not going into details when it came to the most important part of the whole night. She didn't want to admit that the encounter was beyond amazing because it would make things extremely worse. Denying it seemed to ease the whole situation in her own head.

Kaitlyn listened intently and didn't utter a single word just so she wouldn't miss any juicy detail. She was actually baffled at the fact that her angel of a best friend did something like this. She would've expected this from anybody, including herself for that matter but not from innocent AJ. Well... not so innocent now, she thought to herself.

"Well aren't you going to say something?" AJ finally said after finishing her story.

"I don't even know what to say... except for... you're such a dirty girl!" she said with a toothy smile and slapped her arm. "I would have never seen this coming, not in a million years! Oh my gosh!"

"Why are you acting like I did something good? Kaitlyn, I cheated on my boyfriend!" she urged her to get serious but this only made her best friend smile or chuckle now, even more.

"AJ, you are young! Sure, you could've handled this situation a bit better like... if you wanted to bone Punk, leave Daniel first! But that's just me. It's not like you're going to marry the guy and plus, he was treating you horribly in the first place. I say, it's his own fault for not taking care of you properly. If he did, you wouldn't have turned to somebody else. Just my two cents." Her side kick said matter o factly.

AJ sighed and looked down at her feet. Kaitlyn was right. Daniel did and did not deserve this at the same time. If he treated her the way she should be treated, none of this would've happened. She made herself feel a bit better but she quickly turned to feeling guilty again since she knew that even though Daniel wasn't the perfect boyfriend, he never cheated on her. She hated feeling like this, and she regretted everything all together.

"So what am I supposed to do now?" AJ whispered.

"Well, did Punk say anything else to you after the night?" she said as she air quoted the last two words and winked at her. She was still taking the situation light heartedly.

"He sent me a note to meet him at 11 tonight. I don't know if I should go or not..." she said biting her finger nails.

"You should go!" Kaitlyn immediately said nodding her head. "You'd be stupid not to go!" She grabbed her from her shoulders and shook her.

"Kaitlyn, you're my best friend, you should tell me to confess and stop talking to Punk!" she said stomping her foot.

"Well is that what you want to hear? Because you certainly wouldn't listen to me if I did." She said crossing her hands on her chest. She was right. So what if she told her to tell Daniel and stop seeing Punk. Would she do it? She knew in her heart that the answer would be a no.

AJ looked down again and didn't respond. "Just as I expected." She heard her friend say.

"Well I'm scared, okay. I don't even know what we're going to do. Talk? Do 'it' again? Ugh, it's just so confusing and how am I going to sneak out without Daniel noticing me?"

"Oh you'll make something up!" she said putting a hand on her shoulder and the elevator door finally opened. "Wow would you look at that! This is my floor!"

"What you're leaving me?!" AJ whined like a little child.

"AJ, you know what to do! You don't need to me to make your own decisions!" she said as she stepped out. "Have fun!" she said as she winked and pressed the button and sent AJ down.

AJ got mad at her best friend for not helping her the way she should have, but then again, whatever Kaitlyn said, she knew that it was going to be her decision and not her friend's. She pushed the number 4 button hoping that she wouldn't see anyone on her way to her room.

Time increased rapidly as AJ stared at her watch for the nth time. The watch read 10.55pm and she wasn't happy that in 5 minutes she had to be somewhere. She wanted to stay with Daniel and pretend that everything was perfect and that CM Punk is just a co-worker of hers. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was decision time and she knew it. Her gut told her to go but her mind told her to stay. Going would make things much worse but if she never went she'll have to go through life asking what would have happened if she actually went. And there was only one way to find out.

"Hey, Daniel," she called near the front door. She put on a hoodie and instantly remembered that it was in the middle of the summer but it somehow made her feel much more comfortable. It was black with tiny pink hearts on it and it was one of her favourites.

"Yeah honey?" Daniel's head popped out of the bedroom door and he scanned her from top to bottom, "Where you going?" he said drawing his eyebrows together.

"Uh, Kaitlyn needs me. You know girl talk. You know how she is." She said waving her arms in mid air. She was quite satisfied with that lie. It was believable.

"Can't it wait? I mean it's almost eleven o'clock and I'm getting pretty tired." Daniel seemed a little bit annoyed. Kaitlyn was never on his favourite people list but then again no one was except for himself maybe.

"You know how she is, Daniel. She'll be pretty upset if I don't go now." She looked at her watch that she bought from a small gift shop and realised that there was only one minute left till 11.

"Whatever, go. I won't stay up very long so goodnight and don't take so long." And he disappeared.

There was no point in saying goodnight back since he would've ignored her in the first place. She looked again at her watch. Why was she so eager to be there at 11 sharp? What would Punk say if she was there at exactly 11 o'clock? She thought about giving it 5 more minutes but would he think that she's blowing him off like she didn't care at all?

"Oh fuck it!" she cursed under her breath and closed the front door.

She decided to take the stairs instead in order to waste a couple of extra seconds and before she knew it, she was already in front of Punk's door, room 307.

She was waiting for her hand to knock on his door but she remained there motionless. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She cleared her mind and took a minute to calm down. After all it was useless now to worry. She was already in a heap of mess, so why not sink any deeper? It wasn't going to change anything.

"Okay AJ. This is it. Just go on with it and it will be over soon."

She examined her surroundings to check that no one heard her or saw her. What would people think if she went into his room at this hour? What if someone that knew her saw her? They'd tell Bryan in an instant and she'll get caught red handed in a minute. Well that's what you get for telling lies, she thought to herself.

"Okay, okay. This has got to stop." She shook her head and without thinking she knocked three times on his door. She wanted to get in fast so no one could catch a glimpse of her. She felt like she was committing a robbery, like she was waiting for the getaway car to flee the crime scene.

"Yeah?" she heard Punk's voice from the other side.

"It's... uh, me. "She awkwardly said. She didn't want to raise her voice.

She heard the lock turn and the door suddenly opened slowly. Punk wasn't there to greet her so she let herself in. Clearly, he doesn't possess common etiquette, she thought to herself but then again this is CM Punk.

She scanned the dark lit room and even with the lights turned off, she could see that his place was better than hers. The only light came from the television set as a man in a blue suit read the 11 o'clock news. There were empty plates on the coffee table and a couple of Pepsi cans. So Punk wasn't exactly a clean freak.

"Punk?" she slowly said. She was afraid.

"Coming in a second!" she heard a voice from another room. "Make yourself comfortable."

_No thanks s_he thought to herself.

After a couple of seconds of staring at the wall, the lights finally turned on and there was Punk in the same room as AJ. Her heart skipped a beat. He was shirtless, wearing just a pair of jeans and sneakers. Why must he be so mesmerizing? This clearly didn't help the situation. She gulped at the sight of him. She knew that she saw him in only his wrestling trunks every week but this was different, this was personal.

"Sorry, just got out of the shower. I had to go and put on some jeans quickly." He said smiling.

That must be the reason Punk wasn't there to let her in. He must've been in his underwear... or better yet, naked. _Focus, AJ, focus, _she thought to herself.

"It's not a problem, so you wanted to see me?" She was ready to get down to business. After all she's "supposedly" helping Kaitlyn deal with a Ziggler problem right about now.

"Ah, yes. You got my note. At least I didn't tip him for nothing." He winked at her. He walked in front of the couch and turned the TV off with the remote. "Sorry about the mess." He said as he placed all of the plates in a neat stack. She noticed that there were still crumbs all over the coffee table but she didn't say anything. He grabbed the empty cans, crunched them in his hands and threw them in the nearest bin.

"Punk what is this all about? It's late and I'm not up for chit chat." She wasn't in the mood to beat about the bush. She had someone waiting for her back in her room.

He slowly nodded and showed the serious side of himself. "Sit with me?" he said as she motioned a hand towards the couch. She slid her hands into her pockets and realised that she didn't bring her cell phone with her. She brushed it off and sat opposite of Punk.

"Okay, you know what happened right? I don't need to go into details. Both of us were quite aware of what we were doing, there's no point in denying that, right?" Punk immediately changed the subject without any hesitation. She tried reading his expression but he was neither happy nor sad.

She gave him a small nod to go on.

"I love Bryan with all my heart, and I'm sure you do too. You can't be with a person for that long without having any strong feelings towards them no? Unless, you're just there to waste time." He said shrugging his shoulders as he kept his gaze on the coffee table.

Half of it was true and the other half was false. She couldn't decide but she nodded again. She didn't want him to interrupt him.

"Now, just like you well... fucked up, to put it straight forward, I fucked up as well." He said finally looking up to her.

"Punk, I know you and Bryan have been friends for such a long time but..."

"I wasn't finished." He immediately cut her off. She was taken aback a little bit. Punk liked to get everything off his chest; he wasn't a person that kept everything bottled up. What he thought, he'd say it.

"The only reason why I fucked up just like you... is because I am currently seeing somebody and before I "fucked up" we were pretty serious on our relationship." He said putting his hands together on his lap.

_Oh._

"So now what? It's not like it's entirely my fault, you could've stopped me and told me no." She quickly retorted. Was Punk ready to put all of the blame on her? A rush of mixed feelings ran through her body. She felt angry and sad at the same time. She didn't know whether to cry or pull her hair out and scream. Her face became red and her breathing suddenly became heavy.

"No! AJ calm down!" he said as he put his hands on her shoulders. "AJ, please! Let me finish!"

"Continue." She managed to say still furious.

"The person I'm currently seeing is Amy or Lita if you will." He said as he scratched the back of his head. He let out a huge sigh. "The reason why I'm telling you this is because, even though I think I have strong feelings for Lita, I... don't feel guilty about what we did. In fact I enjoyed it." A smile crept on his face as he looked up at AJ. She gave him a confused look.

She decided to ignore the fact that CM Punk was currently dating one of the women who inspired her to become a wrestler and focus on the last part. She felt like it was the only positive thing that has happened to her recently and the more she thought about it the wider her smile got.

"Well, Punk..." she said clearing her throat, "I feel the same way. And if we're lying all our of cards on the table right now, I'd like to say that not only I enjoyed it but it was one of the best nights I have ever experienced." Her face now turned into a light shade of pink. She was amazed that she could say that without any hesitation. She knew she was being sincere. Hell, she was glad she was telling the truth for the first time. She hated lying so much.

He bit his bottom lip and looked at AJ. He chuckled to himself, "I never knew you were capable of making a man go crazy because you surely got me hooked. And well, hear me out." He got serious again while he adjusted his position, "I know you've got Bryan and I've got Lita but tell me, why I don't feel the slightest of guilt?" The edges of his lips turned into a frown.

"To be quite honest, I don't feel guilty too." She said playing with her fingers. "I actually feel guilty that I don't feel guilty, if that makes any sense." She shook her head. "I love Bryan, but..." and she couldn't finish the rest of the sentence. She was telling the truth. Sure she felt guilty at first, but her body certainly didn't.

"Please, don't..." he said as he stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.

"I won't." She whispered. She loved Punk's touch. She grabbed the same hand and kissed it.

"Aw, come here." He said as he opened his arms and AJ giving no thought at all, leaped right into his arms and wrapped her hands around his neck. He tightly hugged her tiny frame and she loved every part of it. She loved how warm his body was, she loved every inch of him, or maybe it was lust, but she didn't care.

He stroked her back for a couple of seconds and she felt better. It was like making peace with a friend, a friend that was sexy as hell. She could tell he just came out from the shower, he smelled so good. She inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with the manly yet sweet smell. She preferred Punk's hugs to Daniel's, but obviously she saw every attribute of Punk to be better than her current boyfriend's.

"So now what?" she said as she tilted her head backwards to look at Punk.

"I don't know." He whispered. "But... I'm not ready to leave Lita yet..." he slowly said. He was afraid of AJ's response.

She felt like she just got hit by a brick wall. She resumed to hugging him again so he won't see her eyes well up with tears. So what if he wasn't going to leave Lita, hell she had Daniel Bryan and not once did she ever think about leaving him. Those mixed feelings of anger and sadness came back again.

"Well, I never said I was going to leave Daniel." She managed to say and she was right. She let go from the hug and sat right next to him. "I love Daniel Bryan and we only just had sex." That was the truth, plain and simple.

"And I love Lita." He said matter o-factly.

"Yet here we are in a room alone together."

He swallowed and licked his lips. "So now what?"

Silence fell between the two. "Are you going to tell her?" she said after a couple of seconds.

"I don't want to jeopardize my relationship with her..." he trailed off. He didn't use any eye contact and kept his gaze on his hands.

"It's the same with me. Daniel might be a pain in the ass, but I'm not ready to part with him." This was true; she got so used to him that she couldn't imagine herself alone now. He might have treated her badly sometimes but he had his good moments as well... if she was lucky enough.

"So that's it then? Huh. I go back to my personal life and you go back to yours?" he said shrugging his shoulders. This was the end of their little adventure, it was the right thing but she wasn't feeling happy about it.

"I guess it is." She said as she got up. She felt like she had no business in staying any longer after all there was nothing left to say and that's it. What's done is done and both of them have to move on and get back to their significant others and pretend nothing happened. Simple enough.

She looked at her watch and it read 11.30pm. She was glad she didn't stay long; 30 minutes seemed a pretty believable time to spend with a supposedly heartbroken best friend.

She made her way to the door and she could tell that Punk was following her to show her the way out. She thought about something else to say but her mind came up with nothing. She reached for the door knob and as she began to twist it she felt Punk's hand rest on hers. He was stopping her.

She looked up confused but she didn't get a chance to say anything because she immediately met Punk's lips. It took her by surprise but as she pulled to get some air she went in again. They both cupped each other's faces and he pushed her slowly against the door. She loved the way his beard felt on her face and his lip ring gave her a tingling sensation in her stomach. Her hands started to roam his bare chest as he made way kissing down her neck. She let out a tiny little whimper, he knew the exact spot where to bite and it made her weak in her knees.

He grabbed a handful of her brunette locks and pushed her for a rough kiss, their tongues in each other's mouths; the room was starting to heat up.

"P-Punk...why are you doing this?" she said in between breaths and kisses.

"I can't control myself." He said as he lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"You?" he said as walked over to the couch and laid her down, her head resting on the arm rest. He got on top of her and proceeded in kissing her again.

"You're just so damn good." She said as he lifted her hoodie up a little bit and started kissing her tummy. She ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him up again to meet with her face. "Shouldn't we stop, Punk?" she sincerely said.

"Do you want me to?"

She took a couple of seconds to think it over and both of them knew the answer. They looked into each other's eyes for a while till he leaned in for another kiss, this time gentle and slowly. His hand entwined with hers, this wasn't about physical pleasure anymore.

They changed positions and they were both laying on their sides, Punk behind her with his hand wrapped around her waist under her hoodie. He loved how soft her skin was.

He kissed her shoulder and she took a deep breath and sighed. This was the right place to be. She felt happy, safe and most of all loved, even though she barely knew Punk at all. She considered the word, 'adored' but nope, it was love that she was feeling right in that moment.

"Are you going to spend the night?" Punk finally said breaking the silence. The silence between them wasn't awkward. They managed to enjoy each other's company without uttering any single word.

"Oh shit" she said looking at her watch, it was 30 minutes past midnight, "I've got to go." And she got up.

"No!" he said sitting up and pulling her hand, "don't leave me." He said pouting his bottom lip.

"That's not gonna work on me." She said and she gave him a peck on the lips.

"I told Bryan I was going to have some girl talk with Kaitlyn. Girl talk over." She said and as she was arranging herself in the mirror, Punk went behind her and wrapped his hands around her.

He looked at her through the mirror, "You're beautiful the way you are, stop fussing." And he kissed her head.

"You seem to know the right things to say, huh." She said giving him a pearly white smile.

"Only the truth." And she spun on her heel to face him and gave him one last kiss for the night.


	4. Chapter 4

She quickly made her way up to her room and she slowly entered without making any sounds. The lights were all turned off so she had to give it a second till her eyes could settle in the dark. Finally she could make her way to the bedroom where Daniel Bryan was snoring furiously.

She took off her clothes and replaced them with a huge shirt that belonged to Daniel. It looked like an oversized dress on her and she slipped under the covers right next to Daniel trying not to wake him up.

She closed her eyes and thought all night about CM Punk. She couldn't help but smile as she imagined their second encounter all over again in her head. She thought about the way his lips felt on hers and the warmth of his body when he wrapped his hands around her. His words, "Are you going to spend the night?" echoed in her ears and she would have definitely stayed if there wasn't Daniel Bryan snoring in her bed. She wondered about what might've happened if she really did stay there with him.

She kept on thinking and thinking till she finally drifted away to sleep.

She woke up the next morning to an empty bed again. The clock on her nightstand read 10am and both Daniel and AJ had their day off. She got up and rubbed her eyes, she could hear the TV in the other room. She took off her oversized t-shirt and settled for some jeans and a plain green tank top.

She slowly made her way out of the bedroom and onto the sofa where Daniel was watching the TV. She slumped onto the sofa right next to him. He was only wearing sweat pants and the image of him shirtless didn't appeal to her anymore.

"You ate without me?" she slowly said when she saw the empty plates on the coffee table.

"I was hungry, so what." He said going through the channels with the remote. He didn't even look at her.

"Well jeez, I was only asking a question." She said folding her arms.

"And I gave you an answer, AJ."

"Don't have to be a pain about it." She grumpily said.

She heard him sigh loudly in frustration and continued to surf the channels while biting his fingernails. Clearly he wasn't in the mood for some chit-chat and neither was she if he was going to snap at her every time she opened her mouth to say something.

She got up and searched for her cell phone. She needed to charge it since they were going to catch a flight in the morning and she forgot to do it last night. She left it on the dresser before she went to visit Punk but it wasn't there anymore. She went through her bags, purses, drawers anything she could get her hands onto but still no luck.

"Looking for something?" she heard Daniel say.

"Yeah, my phone where is it? I can't find it." She said panicking. She never went anywhere without it, (strangely yesterday she did) and even though no one important ever texted her, she carried it around her always.

"I've got a hunch." He said as he got it out of his pockets.

"What were you doing with my phone?!" she quickly snatched it from his hands.

"More like, what were you doing last night, AJ." He said getting up from the couch.

"I-uh..." Well that caught her off guard.

_Shit. Shit. Shit._

He raised an eyebrow and brought his hand to his ear, "what? I can't hear you?" He was smiling but it was not a friendly smile, it was more like an I-just-caught-you-lying type of smile.

She cleared her throat, "I told you Daniel, I had a girl talk with Kaitlyn." She tried keeping her composure.

"Hmm," he said raising his index finger to his lips and tapping it lightly, "By any chance do you know another Kaitlyn cause you were sure as hell not with the Kaitlyn I know last night!" With every word he said, his voice got higher and higher. She could already see a couple of veins popping out near his forehead.

"What?" she said trying to laugh it off, "You're joking right?"

"Oh am I?" he said smiling, "Let us see shall we?" he said and without AJ even realising, he snatched the cell phone right from her hands and in a split second ran to the other side of the room so she wouldn't wrestle for it back.

"This phone is a piece of shit by the way," he said as he flipped it open, "well, here we are!" he said raising the phone in mid-air.

"D-Daniel please..." she said, tears were starting to well up.

"Message 1 from Kaitlyn: "Hey, AJ, how did it go? Tell me everything!" Interesting. It gets better! Message 2 from Kaitlyn, "Why are you taking so long to reply, don't tell me you're doing what I think you're doing!" Well then, AJ Lee, tell me... what exactly did Kaitlyn think you were doing last night? Cause you certainly weren't at any girl talk, you little bitch." He said smiling and then proceeded into throwing the phone right at her.

She threw her hands in the air to shield her face but luckily it landed just by her feet. She swallowed in defeat as hot tears were slowly going down her cheeks; she knew this moment was coming but him calling her a bitch hurt her even more. He never called her anything, even if it was the biggest fight in the world; he never resorted into name calling. She felt belittled and worthless.

"Tell me!" he yelled again. "Quit with the crying, you're not fooling anyone AJ. Now I am going to ask you _one last time_, what were you doing last night?!"

"It's... none of your business Daniel..." she said under her breath. She wiped away the tears with the back of her hand.

"I am your boyfriend AJ; your business is my business so tell me where you were now." He said with nostrils flaring. He looked like a bull ready to charge.

She kept staring at him, hands now shaking, she didn't know what to do or say. Was this the actual moment where she was going to tell him her little secret? Why wasn't her mouth moving? She waited for herself to form some words but she just couldn't.

"If you're not going to tell me AJ, you best be collecting your shit and get out and please find someone one else to give you a ride tomorrow. In fact..." he said as he went and got out her plane ticket from his bag, "I don't think you'll need this anymore." And without thinking, he tore it in half.

"NO!" she yelled but it was all for nothing as she watched her only way to Connecticut get destroyed in front of her eyes.

"I don't know what you're crying for, I paid for it." He said looking at her in disgust. Suddenly she balled up her fists and contained herself from punching him right in the nose. She thought about her job and her image and although it seemed the best thing to do, she didn't want to lose everything because of one guy.

"That's it." She said and she stormed into their bedroom to collect her things. She thanked God for not taking her stuff out from her suitcases so she only had to collect some things from the bathroom and a couple of shirts that were lying around.

"Yeah! Go get your stuff. See if your little "Kaitlyn" will take you in! No one will put up with your shit like I did, AJ and by the way, have a safe trip to Connecticut tomorrow." He said as he rested against the door frame watching her gather her things. He had an evil smirk on his face.

"Get out of the fucking way." She said brushing against his shoulder.

"Gladly." She heard him say as she stormed out of her once hotel room.

She looked up and down the hallway, not knowing where to go. Should she go to Punk or Kaitlyn? She was already feeling like a burden. How is she going to get to Connecticut without a plane ticket? Flights must be all fully booked by now, she said to herself as tears were starting to form in her eyes.

She bit her lip and inhaled deeply. _Be strong, AJ_ she kept telling herself. She marched down the hallway with her suitcase and luggage in her hands and she pressed the elevator button. It was hard to carry everything around but she wanted to get away so she managed the best way she could.

She stood in the same exact spot she was last night. She still found it difficult to muster up the courage and knock. But she had to do it, there was no other option. Well actually there was, but she didn't want to interrupt her best friend from her activities with Ziggler.

AJ took a deep breath and knocked three times just like the day before.

"Yeah?" Punk said as he opened the door, "AJ?!" he said as soon as he caught a glimpse of her. She started crying hysterically and he pulled her in for a hug and that's where he saw her stuff behind her and immediately realised what happened.

"Come in." He finally said and grabbed her suitcase and luggage and brought them inside.

AJ went in wiping away the tears from her face and cleared her throat. She knew her eyes were red and puffy and she hated anyone who saw her crying so she tried her best to avoid any eye contact.

He sat her down and gave her a glass of water. "Calm down, AJ and tell me everything." Punk said rubbing his neck. He was expecting the unexpected and he knew that AJ was going to say something that he wasn't going to be very fond of.

"Daniel kicked me out..." she said with her voice cracking. She was on the verge of crying again but did her best not to.

"Ah, God, did you?" he said running a hand through his gelled hair, "Did you tell him what we did?" he said with his foot shaking. He furrowed his eyebrows waiting for her answer. He almost looked mad, and she was immediately thinking that this was a bad idea.

"No, but he knew that I wasn't at Kaitlyn's and he suspected me of cheating so he kicked me out." She said looking down at her feet.

"If anyone finds out about this..." he said getting up and started pacing the room from one side to another.

"Is your job the only thing that concerns you, Punk?" she said. Suddenly she felt like crying again but not because of Daniel but because of Punk. Where was the guy that was with her last night? Surely it wasn't the same person that hugged her from behind and told her she was beautiful.

"Yeah, because you know what AJ? I'm the fucking WWE Champion; I can't be in situations like these and not to mention I'm already in another relationship with _another_ person." She could see him losing it right in front of her.

She shook her head in disbelief and immediately got up and went to face Punk. "I'm sorry, _champ._" She said pushing his chest with a single finger, "I'm sorry that you sent me that note because you know what, I was better off without all of this mess." And she was going to push him again with both of her hands but he grabbed her just in time. She was trying to loosen from his grip but he was stronger than her.

"I'm sorry that I had to give you that ride." He said quietly and let her go roughly.

She stood there looking up to Punk, her mouth slowly parted in shock. If everything wasn't bad enough, Punk just hit the nail on the coffin.

He could see the hurt in her eyes as tears were building up again and running down her red cheeks. He knew that he hit a very weak spot of hers and he regretted saying that immediately but as he reached for her again she took a couple of steps back.

"_Don't_ fucking touch me." She said wiping her tears quickly.

She went past him and grabbed her bags.

"AJ, please. I'm sorry." He said snatching the bags from her hands so she wouldn't leave.

"Give them back." She shot a look of hurt and anger at him and he handed her the bags in defeat.

He watched her as she opened his door and leave. He wanted to go after her but he knew that their business only existed behind closed doors. He growled in frustration and punched the wall with his right hand and even though it hurt like hell, it didn't quite match the other pain he was feeling.

AJ finally turned to her best friend for some help as she knocked on Kaitlyn's door. She felt like a two-faced loser, maybe Daniel was right on calling her a bitch, she thought to herself. Daniel didn't want her, now Punk didn't want her, hell she wouldn't be surprised if Kaitlyn didn't want her either.

"Oh my gosh, AJ what happened!?" was Kaitlyn's immediate reaction to what she saw as she opened her door. She pulled her in for a hug and squeezed her tightly as AJ let more tears freely fall down. "Come in, come in."

Kaitlyn didn't approve of AJ's state and after eying her up and down, she told her, "Honey, look at you. Ain't no man worth this much trouble. Daniel is well, Daniel and I don't know what Punk did to you, and I'm assuming he did something, but AJ, why didn't you come to me first?"

She was right. Why did AJ go to Punk first? It wasn't like he knew her at all, hell she only spent time with him twice and she knew Kaitlyn ever since they were kids. She felt like she betrayed her.

"I don't know, I wasn't thinking. "she responded.

"Tell me. Don't worry, Ziggler's at the gym so say anything you want." She told her rubbing her back. They sat down on the couch and AJ told her the whole story starting from what happened the previous night. She got right down to the messages, Daniel kicking her out and Punk rejecting her.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry about the texts! It's my entire fault!" she said as she clasped a hand on her mouth.

"Don't say that, Kaitlyn. I was the one who didn't bring my phone with me. Out of all the days, I had to forget that one night." She said shaking her head.

"Well don't worry baby, you're safe here." She told her as she hugged her again. For the first time today, AJ's lips finally curved into a smile, a weak one but nonetheless it was still a smile.

"I can't believe that son of a bitch tore the tickets. How are you getting to Connecticut tomorrow?"

"I don't know, I didn't bother trying to find another flight because it's just impossible and too late. I might get a rental car and drive through the night. I think I might actually have to get one now." AJ said looking at her watch.

"Are you serious? That's dangerous!" Kaitlyn exaggerated.

"You're not my mom, Kaitlyn cut that." AJ told her with a smile. She immediately thought of her mom then and she wished how she was there to make things better. Even if she hugged her, she knew things would become better in an instant. Right now, this felt like forever.

Suddenly they both heard a knock on the door. The person on the other side kept knocking and knocking and Kaitlyn shouted, "ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT I'M COMING! Wonder who that could be." She said as she looked at AJ. AJ shrugged her shoulders.

Kaitlyn twisted the knob and CM Punk came barging in, pushing Kaitlyn back and closed the door behind him. AJ got up immediately and all the mixed emotions came rushing back again.

"Sorry, Kate, I knew if I didn't come in like that, you wouldn't have let me in and I knew that she was here." He said as he looked at AJ.

"Punk, I don't think this is the right time." Kaitlyn said trying to push him out.

"No, please. I don't want to cause a scene in the hallway." He said as he pointed at the door, "Can you give me 2 minutes with AJ please?" he begged.

"This is out of my hands, AJ?" she said as she put her hands in the air and looked at AJ, waiting for her best friend to give her an order.

"Make that one." She said as she gave Punk a stern look and Kaitlyn immediately went into the bedroom and locked herself in there.

"Okay, it's useless to apologize right now so I won't say I'm sorry even though I am." He said as he walked over to her. She took a step back and he stopped where he was. He took a deep breath and rubbed his beard.

"Come on, out with it."

He was choosing his words wisely and after rehearsing the question so many times in his mind, he finally opened his mouth, "I don't know how you're going to Connecticut tomorrow but I know it's not with Daniel. I don't know if you already booked another flight or if you're going with Kaitlyn but," he said as he played with his lip ring with his tongue, "You're welcome to join me on my tour bus if you want to." So it didn't come out as a question, but he thought that he did quite a smooth job.

AJ just stared at him not sure if what she heard was correct. He just told her that he wished he never gave her a lift minutes ago and now he's asking her to join his tour bus?

Then suddenly, they heard a lock turn and Kaitlyn's head suddenly popped out from the bedroom door. "AJ, a word please."

AJ still baffled with what was happening walked over to where Kaitlyn was without saying anything to Punk. She grabbed her hand to pull her in and locked the door behind her.

"Okay, I know, I was eavesdropping, yell at me later for that," she said rolling her eyes and making a circulation motion with her hand, "BUT!" and she raised her index finger in mid air, "it wouldn't be a bad idea if you went with Punk."

"WHAT?! Are you fucking kidding me right now!?" AJ roared.

"Language, AJ. And anyways, it's better than driving in the middle of nowhere at night. Think about it, AJ, you don't have to actually sleep with him, ya know. Just say please and thank you and you'd be fine!" she said as she gave her a hopeful smile.

Maybe AJ's mom wasn't around but Kaitlyn was close enough.

"I can't believe you're doing this to me."

"It's all up to you, honey."

"You're telling me to use Punk, Kate. Think about it."

"Wouldn't that be like getting back at him for what he did to you?" she said with a mischievous grin.

"I like where this is going." AJ said nodding in approval.

"Then you know what to do!" and she pushed her friend out where Punk was still waiting impatiently in the small living room. He looked up to her as she came in and she knew that he was waiting for her answer. He walked up to her and she stopped him with her hand.

She gulped. It took her quite a while to utter the words because it was going against her better judgement. She tucked some of her hair behind her ears, "I accept."

Punk's worried face transitioned into a happy one as he gave her a toothy smile showing off the gap he had between his two front teeth. She noticed the wrinkles around the edges of his lips and she unconsciously thought about their 9 year age difference. She shook her head to stay focus.

"This doesn't change anything Punk, so stop smiling." She told him as she crossed her hands on her chest. She still wouldn't let him have it.

He ignored her and grabbed her bags. "What we're going now?" she told him thrown off guard.

"Hey this won't be an hour long drive, you know. I'm already packed so let's get going."

Kaitlyn rushed out of the bedroom and gave AJ a bear hug. "You get there safe, okay! And you!" she said pointing at Punk. "I'm not afraid to punch you in the face." She was dead serious.

"I'll keep that in mind." He said a bit irked. "Let's go AJ." AJ frowned at Kaitlyn and followed after CM Punk. "See ya, Kate." she said helplessly and walked out.


	5. Chapter 5

"That Kaitlyn is really something, huh?" Punk commented while they were walking down the hallway and into the elevator. He pushed the number zero button.

"That's my best friend you're talking about and if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be stuck here with you." she said irritated. She folded her arms across her chest as she nervously tapped her foot.

"Calm down. I was only trying to make conversation."

"And clearly as you can see, I'm not in the mood for small talk." She didn't make any eye contact with him but instead kept her gaze on the numbers as each one lit up in a descending order till they reached ground floor.

She heard him sigh behind her and pretended to ignore it. She knew that he was upset but she felt like she had a good excuse to be mad at him. After all, he did say hurtful things to her and her behavior towards him was justified in her opinion. She didn't want to be near him and even being in his presence was starting to annoy her but she knew she had to suck it up if she wanted to bum a free ride.

At last, the elevator door opened and she murmured 'finally' under her breath. Suddenly, two big men in black came up to Punk and he handed them AJ's things.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa where the hell are they taking my things?! HEY!" she shouted as they scurried off outside the hotel premises with her belongings in less than a couple of seconds.

"AJ!" he said pulling her back from her waist. "They're my security team. Your things are safe, don't worry."

She turned around and pushed him, "Get your hands off me!" She took a couple of seconds to calm herself down and continued, "What now? CM Punk needs security? Really?" She raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips.

"Shut it, AJ. I'm sick and tired of you already and we're not even on the road yet." he said rubbing his forehead as if he was trying to figure something out, or maybe he was making himself calm down before he punched someone right in the jaw.

She was left with her mouth open as she watched CM Punk walk out the revolving door. He pulled up his hoodie and put a pair of sunglasses on that were in his pockets. She could see a big tour bus parked just outside and she watched as fans surrounded him by every second shoving pens and photos in his face. He posed for a couple of pictures and got in safely with the help of his security team that kept the fans in control.

She wondered if she'll get bombarded like Punk, but she thought about how Punk had a bigger fan base than hers, after all he is the WWE Champion and they most probably don't know the little pipsqueak of a diva that she is. She took a deep breath and made her way out. Whether they knew who she was or not, she still had to fight her way to get into the tour bus.

"Guess, it's now or never." she said as she shrugged her shoulders and pushed the revolving door slowly and got out.

She ended up pushing a couple of fans around and after some brief seconds she started hearing her name being called by various people. She also got some papers and pens shoved in her face which she gladly signed. So this is how celebrities felt, she thought to herself. Then suddenly the same two men who took her bags earlier came out and parted the crowd in the middle so AJ could get in safely. They were both wearing sun glasses and she couldn't tell how they actually looked like.

"Thanks." she said to the two men as she hopped on and they simultaneously nodded. She turned around to wave at the crowd for the last time and turned around and into CM Punk's tour bus for the very first time.

She was amazed at how a bus could be so huge. She never had the chance to experience being on a tour bus and she felt like it was a privilege to be on one. It was like a mini house on wheels that traveled from one state to another on a weekly basis. Hell, she wouldn't mind if she lived here, she thought to herself. Sometimes being a WWE superstar had its perks and she made note to get one when she'd score her first couple of millions.

"Oh good, you're here. Let me show you where you're sleeping." Punk said popping out of nowhere. She didn't get a chance to say anything as she immediately followed Punk to her so called temporary little area.

"This is your bed and there's the bathroom as well. You can hang out over there on the sofa and there's the TV. Oh and your bags are already in there." he said, his fingers pointing at all directions, she barely could keep up.

She nodded and sat on her bed not knowing what to do with herself.

"I travel with Kofi so don't be alarmed if you hear any Bob Marley music blasting. He's into that type of stuff." he said rolling his eyes and shrugging his shoulders. She knew that Punk preferred rock music and she wondered if he had to put up with the reggae music or whether it grew on him as time passed by.

She gave him a half smile. "Don't worry about me, it's like I'm not even here."

"Yeah." he nervously said, sliding his hands in his pockets. He took a deep breath and turned around to walk out but she couldn't keep quiet as she called his name and he immediately spun around to face her. He sort of caught her off guard, since she didn't have enough time to form a proper sentence in her head. It was like talking to him for the very first time.

"Uh," she managed to utter, "Thanks, Punk, for everything." She felt bad for the way she acted earlier. It wasn't the right attitude to have with someone who is giving you a free ride and she knew that she didn't deserve his hospitality.

"Don't mention it." he casually said, and walked out. She didn't even get a smile or a simple nod as she watched his body language attentively but still got nothing. Maybe things between him and her are really over and she didn't know whether to feel sad or glad. He did apologize for what he said but then again, she liked to drag things off till she made the other person guilty enough for her own amusement.

She bit her bottom lip and pulled up her feet on the bed. She laid down on her side hugging one of the other pillows and started thinking. She suddenly felt the bus moving and almost immediately a Bob Marley song started playing. She could recognize the beat but couldn't remember the words nor the name of the song. She smiled at herself and closed her eyes; it was still morning but she felt like taking a nap. She nuzzled her face into the pillow and after a couple of minutes, she fell asleep.

–

She woke up a couple of hours later covered with a fleece blanket that was keeping her warm and cozy. She wondered where in the world did it come from but she didn't put much thought into it. She must have been sleeping on it and she pulled it over herself in her sleep.

It must have been dark by now but as she looked out of the window, she saw that the sun was just about to set down and it wasn't dark yet. She must have slept for hours and she took a look at her watch and it read 6pm. She was quite amazed that she slept through the whole afternoon without waking up once. Maybe she really did need the rest after all.

She walked right out to where Punk and Kofi were and she was immediately greeted by Kofi smiling. "Hey AJ! Had a good nap?" He was furiously pressing the buttons on his controller and he was battling against CM Punk in one of their video games.

"Oh yeah, didn't think I'd sleep for that long but oh well. What are you guys playing?" she said intrigued. She noticed how Punk kept his focus on the screen and didn't pay any attention towards AJ.

"Sorry we don't have another controller." Punk quickly said.

She was so shocked at what he said that even Kofi had to pause the game to look at Punk. "Hey now, what's with the hostility?" He had a confused look on his face and AJ promptly realized that Kofi knew absolutely nothing about Punk and her. She felt 10 years old again where boys didn't want to play with her because she had 'cooties'. She couldn't believe that Punk could be so childish and immature and it actually hurt her.

"It's okay." AJ said a bit embarrassed and insulted, "I'm just, I'm going back to my room." she said getting up and going at the back again.

"Are you out of your mind?" She heard Kofi say and she knew that the question was directed towards Punk but she couldn't hear his reply.

She felt like crying again but she wouldn't let Punk have it because his actions were simply stupid and uncalled for. She took a look at her phone and found Kaitlyn on her contact list. She wanted to call her but she didn't want to bother her. She didn't want to call her every time something bad happened and she knew that she had to deal with things on her own now. She was a grown up and she had to face her problems and not run away from them. She sighed loudly and sat back down on the bed. This was surely going to be one long journey to Connecticut.

AJ brought out a book from her suitcase and opened it up where the bookmark was. She got out her glasses from her bag and she started reading to get her mind off things and surprisingly she found herself two hours later with the book still clutched in her hands.

She was relating with the main character who was feeling lost and lonely and that was exactly how AJ was feeling. She wanted to read the part where everything turned out better, somehow assuring herself that the same was going to happen to her at some point.

Maybe she should stop dating wrestlers and settle for a normal guy with a normal job but she knew that the touring might be a problem for their relationship. Either way, she couldn't win. Why did she long for her other half so much when she was still this young? She wanted a guy that she could call her own, maybe get married and have some children. She dreamed of a having her own family ever since she was a little kid. Punk and Bryan were certainly not that 'guy' and it almost frustrated her that she hadn't met him yet.

She finally realized that she had been reading the same page for the last 5 minutes and she couldn't remember anything. She placed the bookmark right in between the two pages and closed it. Her eyes hurt and she was getting tired again. She took the glasses off and ran her hands over her face. She felt like such a slob to sleep again so she decided to take a shower to wake her up a bit.

She quietly got her necessary things and crept towards the bathroom and took a quick shower before anyone walked in on her. She hated showering where she knew that people might walk in on her but she couldn't not shower or else she'd stink up the whole place.

She ran through her bags and settled for some pj's and slippers and sat back down to bed. This felt so boring, till she realized that there was a mini TV right across. She felt like a stupid idiot, and she snatched the remote and started going through the channels.

"Hey." she heard Punk say and she looked up to meet his eyes. He was still in his normal everyday clothes.

"What do you want?"

"I came back here to apologize for my actions." Punk was swallowing his pride and actually was owning up to his own actions.

"Why? Because Kofi made you?"

"Well, yes."

"Okay, then. Goodnight." She wasn't interested in maintaining a relationship with Punk anymore, being romantic or friendly she didn't want to see him.

"Wait, that's it?" He was surprised that she didn't say anything. He knew that she loved to have the last word.

"Yep, I guess so."

"Okay look AJ." he said as he sat down next to her. "I don't normally say this to anyone, but everyone knows how I say things like they are."

She had no clue where he was heading. If this was another I love Lita speeches, she wasn't going to have any it. She raised an eyebrow and gave him a look.

"Just hear me out."

"Alright, alright." she said folding her hands on her chest and listened attentively to what Punk had to say.

"I love Lita-"

"Okay, out now." she cut him off and got up. "Out, I don't want to hear this crap. Out!" and she pulled him up by his shirt and started pushing him out. She wasn't sad now, she was angry and the quicker he left her sight, the better.

"No! Let me finish." he said as he grabbed her hands. She might have been a wrestler, but Punk's strength was greater than hers and she hated how he was so dominant and powerful over her.

"Punk, I don't care how much you love Lita. Why the hell are you telling me this? Last time I checked I don't care." She said as she gave him a sarcastic smile.

"Shut up."

"Don't fucking tell me to shut up." she yelled as she pushed him again. She was being aggressive but she didn't care; she actually wanted to punch him right in the nose and hopefully break it.

"Shut the _fuck_ up!" he raised his voice higher than her, as he grabbed her from her shoulders. His fingers were digging right into her shoulder blades and it was hurting her but she kept quiet.

"I love _her, _but I can't stop thinking about you!" he said as he shook her. She bit her bottom lip and held back tears. She wasn't going to cry in front of him, she didn't want to look weak.

"Now that's your problem." she said slowly, her voice cracking in a half sob.

"I tried getting over you-"

"By being a dick to me?"

"Jesus fuck, I don't even mind when you're being a bitch to me. I want you AJ."

She realized that he was giving it his all to say everything that he had to say. She could see it in his eyes, the honesty and his innocence. Or maybe it was the guilt that he was feeling for loving two women at the same time. Either way, she knew he was being sincere and now it was her turn.

"I want you too, but I can't be that person you're cheating on your girlfriend with. I just... it's not the way I am." she said miserably. She shook her head and looked down to hide her face from her tears. So much for being done with him, she thought to herself.

It took him a while to say something back ."I understand." he said as he lifted her head up and wiped a tear with his thumb. "So what now?" He felt defeated.

"You keep on going out with Lita, and I'll just be alright." She shrugged her shoulders. AJ actually wanted him to leave Lita for her but she felt so selfish that she immediately felt angry at herself for thinking such a thing.

"I think I'm going to tell her. She deserves to know the truth." he said nodding.

"No please, she'll fucking kill me and I'm not in the mood for anymore drama. I already have enough on my plate." she begged.

"Uh, I think she'll kill me before she kills you. I'm the one she's dating, not you."

"But things don't go like that-" and she didn't feel like continuing with this conversation anymore. "Punk please, don't do anything stupid. If you want to remain WWE Champion, I suggest you shut your mouth."

Things got serious again and he took a moment to digest what she said, and he knew she was right. So many superstars were de-pushed because they couldn't keep their personal problems on the down-low and Punk wanted to finally reach his goal of being the champion for a whole complete year.

"Your career is on top of your list. Don't mess it up just because of me. Don't do this to yourself." She put a hand on his shoulders, and she knew that he was finally listening to her. She hated being manipulative, but she was ready to say anything to make him not spill their little secret. If Vince McMahon found out, Punk could be stripped off his title and she could find herself out the door and it would be easy because she was a diva and the divas weren't considered as important as the male superstars.

"You're right."

_Thank God. _She was relieved that she finally succeeded in her little quest to shut him the hell up. She felt like she was reliving the Edge, Lita and Matt Hardy love triangle, and she wasn't ready to repeat all the shit that they went through. It was like dodging a bullet that could have killed both of their careers.

"Good, so now you can enjoy your life with Lita and I'm just going to be my old self and pretend that there was nothing between us." And as much as it killed her to say it, she had to put her own feelings aside and make everything better again.

"Thank you, AJ." He wasn't exactly too happy with the outcome but it was the right way go about it. He came here to possibly have wild and passionate sex with her but ended up being pep talked to mend his relationship with his girlfriend. He forced a smile and went to make his exit.

She looked around like she was fishing for something but in fact she was thinking on what else she could say to him. She didn't want him to leave her and... friends can hang out, right?

"Hey Punk!" she called.

"Yes?" he quickly turned around, almost too quickly.

"Can you tell me what I can do to pass the time? I've never been alone on the road before and I'm already tired of sleeping and lying around." Well it was true.

"Oh, well you can come out and hang out with me. There's video games, movies, nachos..."

"Sounds good to me." she said giving him a warm smile for the very first time that day.

"Cool. Let's go."


	6. Chapter 6

Monday night finally came around and AJ alongside CM Punk and Kofi Kingston arrived at Bridgeport just three hours before the show. They made their discreet entrance to the arena and were handed their lines almost immediately.

"What do you have?" AJ asked Punk and he was skimming his papers to see at what time he's scheduled to be on and who he was going against.

"I guess we're having a segment together. Check page 3." he said keeping his serious face on. Punk didn't need to read the script word by word. His only requirement was to know what he was going to talk about and he could cut a promo just the way he wanted to without revising anything. She sometimes envied him that he had this liberty to do and say what he wanted to a certain extent but she knew that he was the only one that could handle that job very well.

She quickly turned to page 3 and her eyes scanned the script from top to bottom. AJ was currently serving as the Raw General Manager and Punk was playing the heel champion. They've been going at it for weeks now, hinting the sexual tension that they had between the two and tonight they were facing each other again in a heated argument.

"Hey look, I'm slapping you tonight!" AJ said joyfully and she gave him a big toothy smile.

"Yeah, don't break my jaw, okay Rambo?" he said nudging her with his elbow.

"I'd be careful if I were you."

He shook his head and rubbed his beard. She knew that there was no time left to joke around. She had to get to her dressing room and prepare herself mentally and physically for the night if she wanted to have a great show. She remembered packing about 3 different outfits for the show, still undecided on which suit to use. She was never a suit type of person but every time she saw a suit that was nice, she'd buy it just in case. She left the rest of her belongings back at Punk's tour bus.

"Hey Punk, I'm going to my dressing room. See you later and thanks again for the ride!" she said as she went in for a hug and by the time she opened her arms, she knew this was going to be awkward.

He hugged her tiny frame as tight as he could without hurting her and she was surprised at his delicate touch. The hug lasted for a brief couple of seconds and he almost lifted her off the ground a bit since she got on her tip toes in the first place to hug him. She could feel his strong muscles tensing against her skin. She wanted to lock him in a room and do things to him. Was that considered sexual assault? Not if the other person enjoyed it, right? Well, might as well call her creepy AJ now. She wondered what Punk was thinking at that very moment. Punk may be Lita's but there was no harm done by thinking dirty things about him.

"I think it's time to let go now…" she said smiling against his chest.

"Oh sorry about that." He said a bit embarrassed as he let go.

"Don't be. See you later." And she gave him a small little smirk and she skipped off to her dressing room.

* * *

The show was sadly over and while AJ was still experiencing that adrenaline rush right before she goes out of the curtain and into the arena, she felt exhausted and tired. The show was great and she knew that almost everyone in the crowd went home happy. She did her best to entertain the crowd that will be their money's worth, after all she does remember that time when she had spent almost all her money just to attend a WrestleMania, so she didn't want anyone to be disappointed.

She went into the divas locker room to shower and change and exactly after she opened the door, a wave of perfume and body lotion wafted into her face. Sometimes she loved being a girl; you wouldn't have this sort of smell if you go to the men's locker room, or so she thought. She imagined it having a smell of old dirty socks and man sweat- something which isn't so nice.

"You killed it out there, AJ!" Kaitlyn shouted from the other side of the locker room. She was in her bathrobe, drying her hair with a towel. She had a match against Aksana today and it wasn't a 5 star match in AJ's book, but then again everybody works hard nonetheless.

"Thanks Kate so did you!" she responded enthusiastically.

She quickly got her things and took a quick hot shower and she was good to go.

She then changed into some black jeans and a t-shirt that had a skull on it with some basic ballerina pumps. She tied her hair into a loose bun and went out to find Punk.

"Where are you going?" Kaitlyn said as she popped out her head from the diva's locker room door.

AJ instantly turned around, caught a bit off guard and quickly said, "I need to talk to Punk."

"You're on good terms now?" her best friend said raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I guess so." She said in a swift smile and turned around again to scurry off to where she wanted to go.

"Alright." She heard her say. Judging from her tone, she knew that Kaitlyn wasn't having any it but she ignored it. After all, she was the one who pushed her to go with him on the tour bus, if anything it was her fault that she was on "_good terms_" with Punk. She brushed the Kaitlyn thing off because she didn't want it to bother her; right now she wanted to see Punk.

After turning a couple of corridors, she found Punk's locker room. The champion obviously had his own room and in big bold letters, there was a sign written "CM PUNK - WWE CHAMPION" on the door. She wondered whether she'll get the same treatment if she were to be the Diva's champion. She heard a lot of muffled voices coming from inside, as though there was a fight going on between a group of persons, but she didn't want to eaves drop, so she quickly knocked on the door, almost regretting it the second later.

_What am I doing? _

She always asked the same question every time she goes and knocks on Punk's door. Why can't she never just go up and knock and that's it. Why does she always freeze in fear, it's not like Punk is going to eat her or anything. Her heart was racing, yet she had no feelings for CM Punk.

"Yes?" a woman's voice said as she opened the door and AJ knew whose voice that belonged to. She looked up and the first thing she saw was that fire bright red hair. It was Lita.

AJ felt like someone punched her in the throat and she had to swallow slowly even if it hurt like hell. It was the woman who CM Punk cheated on with yours truly, AJ Lee. Lita's facial expression wasn't all too pleasing, she and Punk were fighting, and she could sense it in the air. Part of her liked it but the other part was filled with agitation and anxiety. What if Punk was spilling the beans right at that moment? Well, if he did, AJ Lee would already find herself at the end of a Twist of Fate and she was still standing on her two legs unharmed.

"Need anything AJ?" Lita said again after getting no response from the little diva.

"Oh yes, uhm, is Punk here?" she timidly said.

"It's for you Punk." Lita raised her voice as she glared at AJ, examining her from head to toe. This was a bad idea.

She saw Punk peeping from behind Lita from across the room to see who it was and by his expressions, she could tell that he wasn't in a good mood also. This felt like trespassing in an area surrounded by barb wire and land mines. AJ Lee didn't know where her next step is going to be and whether it's going to blow right in her face or not.

"I'll handle this." Punk said as he grabbed Lita by the arm and she moved out of the way and closed the door behind him.

"This isn't a good time AJ, what do you want?" he said folding his arms. He was looking down at AJ, as if she was a little child who stole some candy. She didn't like this feeling. She wanted him to smile and hug her like earlier that day.

"I just wanted to say thanks for everything and that we had a great show today…" she mumbled feeling foolish now that she disturbed Punk only to say thank you. She somehow developed a new interest in her pumps. She was playing with her fingers, and then resorted into shoving her hands into her pockets because it was making her more nervous.

"AJ!" he dragged her name, as he rubbed his hands over his eyes and cheeks. "This isn't a good time at all for this stuff. I'm in the middle of something."

She looked up to him and saw him shaking his head. Well guess she stepped on a land mine right now because everything just blew right in her face. Why did she always have to face something bad every time she knocked on Punk's door? Why can't he just welcome her and hug her like other normal people?

"I can clearly see that now." She gulped and continued, "I hope it's not something I caused." She was screaming at herself not to cry.

"If it was, you'd be in a very bad situation right now AJ. Well actually you and me both, but this doesn't concern you AJ and be thankful for that." She looked into his eyes and all she could see was an empty void, there was no love, no kindness. His tone was hallowed; there was no compassion and no remorse.

"I hope you and her fix whatever you were fighting about." She slowly stuttered and walked away without giving Punk a chance respond.

"AJ, I don't have time for your games!" he shouted but she kept on walking as if she heard nothing.

Rushes of mixed emotions were overwhelming her body and she had no clue on how to react. Her palms were sweaty and her heart wanted to jump right out her chest. She was out of breath when she reached her locker room and she wanted to calm herself before she entered to avoid questions from her fellow colleagues.

* * *

CM Punk walked back in with teeth clenched and slammed the door. His breathing was getting heavy and he turned around to look at a puzzled Lita who was waiting for him to explain.

"What?"

"What was that about?" She looked like she was missing something from this strange situation and she kept looking into his green eyes as if she was trying to find the answer.

"Nothing."

"Seems like something if you're getting so worked up on it." Her brief comment didn't help Punk, in fact he wanted to throw a chair at her so maybe she'd disappear and that would hopefully make AJ disappear as well and he would just wrestle all day and all night and he'd be a happy man. He shook his head, he wasn't making any sense.

"Look, just don't say anything and be quiet." And he went to get something to drink from the mini fridge to cool down.

"What is this? I came here to surprise you and we haven't stopped fighting and now this AJ knocks and suddenly you're mad as hell. What is wrong with you? Or better yet, why does AJ have this huge effect on you?"

"What?" he slammed the fridge and turned around, "Don't tell me you're accusing me of something because if that's the case, you can get your stuff and leave."

"Wait what? I wasn't accusing you of anything, now you're making me think that there's something going on! Punk, tell the truth."

"The truth is you're pissing me off Lita and you should be going right now."

He pointed at the door with his bottled water still in his hand.

"Really Punk? I can't believe you're acting this way, I've never seen you like this." Lita was practically boiling right about now.

"When you're away from someone things can change a lot, now get out."

With watery eyes, Lita was left with her mouth wide open. She snatched her leather jacket off the couch and grabbed her shoulder bag as Punk opened the door, waiting for her to leave.

"Call me when you get your brain fixed."

Lita was crushed and Punk was humiliated. He watched her walk down the corridor and disappear, most probably out of his love life as well.

He slammed the door again and tossed the bottled water across the room. It bursted open when it hit the wall and water was spilling everywhere.

"Fucking great!" he yelled and he ran his hands through his hair almost pulling it out when he reached the end.

He wanted to go and find AJ and put the blame on her but he knew that it wasn't all her fault. He played his part as well, he was the one who had sex with her in his car and he was the one who gave her that note to meet again. He was a sad excuse for a straight edge man. Straight edge meant that you didn't drink, smoke or do drugs but it also meant not being promiscuous and yet here he was not only cheating on his girlfriend but he was most probably developing huge serious feelings for the other girl, which was little AJ in this case.

He looked at his WWE championship belt and he shook his head. A sense of disappointment was coming over him and he was alone. He wanted to tell someone what he was going through but no one would understand.

* * *

"What's wrong AJ?" Eve immediately attacked her with the worst question in the world.

"Nothing's wrong, I'm fine alright?!" Her fists were ready to punch something or someone, but she couldn't do that to any of her friends. She felt like the crazy chick from her previous storyline because she just flashed a barely convincing smile to Eve and walked off to gather her things.

As she was walking out of the building, she remembered that she left the remainder of her items back at the tour bus. She desperately wanted to know why she did this yet couldn't come up with an answer. She made her way back to where all the tour buses and containers were. She was met with CM Punk's huge face on one of the trucks and she let out a small groan. This man was making her life a living hell.

She somehow recognized CM Punk's tour bus (which was weird) and she knocked on the door, hoping someone was in there, maybe the driver or someone. She didn't care who it was, as long as she got her stuff.

No one was answering and she was getting pretty frustrated. She knocked again but still no one opened the door.

"What are you doing?" She heard a muffled voice from behind and she quickly jumped.

"Punk! You fucking scared me to death." She clenched on her chest, breathing loudly, "I just want my stuff back."

"Do you know what happened after you left, AJ?" he said as he approached her.

"W- What happened?" This wasn't the CM Punk she knew. She had met with many versions of this man and she concluded that this one was the scariest. She thought of ways on how to defend herself if he ever tried doing something on her. She couldn't believe that she thought that CM Punk would resort to violence, especially against women and against her. This train of thought was making her paranoid.

"I obviously had another fight with Lita and I basically told her to hit the road!"

"What does that have to do with me?"

"It's you AJ! You're making me feel this way, I'm a grown ass man and you're only in your early twenties yet I'm still here talking to you!"

"Punk you're not making any sense."

He crept a bit forward and she found herself against the tour bus door with nowhere to go.

"Punk you're scaring me."

"Did I ever do anything to deserve this?! I've sacrificed everything in my life to get to where I am right now and this," he pointed back and forth, at him and at AJ, "this is fucking killing me."

"I'm not doing anything Punk. Things are just the way they are. I didn't mean for this to happen, it just did. We both messed up and clearly you're not taking it very well." She pushed some of her hair behind her ear and looked down at the ground. She wasn't the only one who experienced breakdowns.

"I don't know what to do AJ, I'm so lost." His voice was cracking and he suddenly turned around to hide his face.

Was the WWE Champion crying? She didn't know how to react, it was usually her that does all the crying but now tables have turned. She understood Punk's point of view though. He did fight to earn all the things he desired in his life and while he went through a lot, this must be new to him. He didn't want to jeopardize his status in the WWE because of his love life, especially because of little, petit Miss AJ Lee.

She hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder, afraid that he might shrug it off but he didn't do anything. She could hear him sniffing and she was the reason he was acting that way. She looked around to see if anyone was there and luckily enough they were alone.

"Come here, Punk…" she cooed and without hesitation he turned around and wrapped his big tattooed arms around her small frame. She slowly ran her hand through his hair over and over again while rocking back and forth.

"I know this is tough, believe me, I've been crying my eyes out for days now but it's going to get better."

"AJ, it won't. Ever since I got to know you a bit better, my life has just been a downward spiral to nowhere. I don't think…"

"You don't think what?" she said pulling out from the hug and looking into his red swollen eyes.

"I don't think we should talk to each other anymore."

"Excuse me!?" she pushed him and took a step back, "And here I was consoling you and now you don't want to be my friend?"

"Friends don't have sex, AJ!"

"Well guess what, we did!" she said opening her arms, "And I fucking loved every single second of it and I know you did too, so stop being such a fucking pussy and do something about it!"

She couldn't believe what she was saying, it was like her mouth was moving and words were coming out without control. "I know you want me Punk, I fucking dare you to do something. You know you want me so bad, but for your own selfish reasons, you only want to see me as just another person you fucked because that's how CM Punk is. Isn't that right?"

"AJ, what are you saying?"

"No shut up! I'm tired of doing all this secret stuff and I'm tired of crying and feeling sad and lonely. If I didn't have strong feelings for you, I would have never felt so devastated when I saw Lita opening that door!"

"You were the one who told me to stay with Lita!"

"Yeah well I lied! People do that sometimes to hide their true feelings. All I wanted from that very night we spent in your car was to be with you but things got in the way, and then Bryan and Lita and now it's just too messed up."

He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, "No, don't Punk." And she moved her face to the side. He looked at her and bit his lip with sadness but he wasn't ready to give up yet. It didn't matter if his job was on the line, right now it was about himself and AJ, and not the WWE.

He rested his hands on both of her shoulders and looked down into her dark brown eyes; he always liked it how she had to literally look up to him to meet his eyes.

After a moment of silent, he finally spoke. "For all it's worth AJ, I think… I love you." He let his guard down and finally let his heart talk and AJ was thrilled that he actually did something about it.

AJ's face was slowly turning into a nice shade of pink. "I think… I love you too, Punk." She whispered as tears were slowly running down her cheeks and he was there to quickly wipe them away with his thumbs.

He stared into her brown eyes and moved an inch closer, cupping her face with both hands and finally leaned in for a kiss. It was a mix of saliva and salty tears but none of them cared. His lips were soft just like she remembered them and that butterfly feeling in her stomach was coming back. She wrapped her hands around his waist and held him tightly as she could. He spun her around with lips still pursed together and pushed her against the tour bus. His hands were slowly roaming down, till he got a grab on her thighs and lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist. The kiss was getting hot and intense and she could feel that he wanted a little bit more.

"You don't have to do this."

"Oh believe me I want to." She said in between kisses and he managed to take out the keys from his pocket and somehow with AJ still around him, he managed to open the door and up those three little steps.


	7. Chapter 7

AJ laid naked on top of CM Punk both sweaty and breathless after making love twice. They both were a hot mess but she didn't care. She pushed back a couple of her brunette locks that fell on her face and looked up to Punk who was still trying to catch his breath. She bit her lip to hide her little smirk; she couldn't believe that she was capable of doing this to a man, especially if that man was CM Punk. He was so strong and confident, no one could break him yet here he was, hypnotized under her own little spell.

She let the last couple of minutes sink in to her own reality and she was happy. Call her selfish or a home wrecker, she finally got what she was desperately yearning for and even though CM Punk wasn't hers yet, he was still here with her and not with Lita. AJ has come a long way indeed. She remembered how she couldn't even muster the courage to look him in the eyes when she talked to him and now she was thinking how she had one over Lita. She ran through the whole ordeal in her head, and she wasn't going to let herself feel bad about it, she's been an emotional wreck for far too long.

CM Punk wrapped his hands around her little body and squeezed her gently against his chest. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you, AJ." She could hear him sigh but she only buried her face into his chest even more, deeply inhaling his scent that she adored. She didn't even know what to do with herself either, but she was trying to live in the moment for now. She suddenly thought about Daniel and those uncomfortable nights she spent with him and none of them were ever like this. She planted a small kiss on his tattooed chest, this was perfect.

"What time is it?" She finally looked up to Punk to meet with those beautiful green eyes of his in the dark. She didn't realize that they were in pitch black the whole time, guess they were too busy to even notice. That must've been the reason as to why it took her an extra couple of seconds to unbutton his jeans, but it didn't matter, they came off and now they were lying with the rest of their clothes somewhere on the floor.

"I have no clue." He said as he was stroking her now tangled hair and lightly kissed her on her forehead.

"I wish it could be like this every day." She was tracing little circular patterns on his chest with her index finger and she could feel his chest rising as he inhaled and exhaled deeply. She knew he was almost as heartbroken as she was, or at least she thought so. Why couldn't she have a normal, healthy relationship like other normal people? Oh right, she was never normal and she hated every single second of it.

"I wish I could give you what you want AJ." He lifted his hand to scratch his beard and ran a hand through his gelled hair. He had no clue what to make out of this situation but all he knew was that he had deep feelings for AJ Lee and he didn't know how to handle them.

AJ was just a girl and he was a grown up man, their 9 year age difference wasn't helping him either. Even just by looking at her skin, he noticed the difference. Hers was so young and delicate and his was rough and somewhat old looking due to the fact that he has been wrestling at such a young age. He couldn't do this to her, she deserved someone her own age, like he deserved a woman like Lita.

Speaking of Lita… he wondered whether she was still furious about the whole fiasco that happened back at his locker room. He felt like such a jerk to do that to her. He treated her like utter trash and he mentally beat himself up because of it and now he was in bed with another person_ again_. What was he thinking! He didn't deserve Lita, he never did. She should be in his arms right now and not AJ Lee. He was a disappointment to himself and that was another word added to the list of things that he was, others being like 'asshole' and 'cheater' and more. The list was truly never ending.

"Hah, some champion I am, eh AJ?" He looked down to look at his beautiful companion.

AJ's face shot up again and she gave him a quizzical look, "Huh? What do you mean?" Her voice was a bit groggy, as if she just woke up after a long nap. She cleared her throat and still gave Punk the same expression.

"Well for starters, I can officially establish myself as a cheater now, no point in trying to hide that." She could feel his body stiffen under her. "Secondly, not only I'm a cheater but I basically kicked out my girlfriend and now I'm here with you. I think we have a Jerk of the Year Slammy nominee right over here!" and he pointed at himself.

AJ groaned at the mention of Lita, and rolled over to her side and sat up. "Does this always have to be about work, Punk?"

"What?" Using both hands he pushed himself up right next to her. She was slowly playing with the creases of the sheets, trying to straighten them out with her little finger.

"Nothing." Her attention was still focused on the sheets and she didn't dare to look at Punk so he wouldn't see that her eyes were about to swell up with tears. She hated this.

"No, look at me." And with two fingers he lifted her chin up and moved her head slightly to his direction. He could still make out her brown eyes in the dark.

"What?" she said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"What's wrong AJ? And don't make me beg for it, just tell me."

She took a deep breath and started, "I wish it could be just about the two of us for once, you know? I mean you have to drag in the 'I'm the champion' thing every time you feel the slightest of guilt. I get it, as a champion you should be setting a good example and whatnot, but things are what they are and that's it basically."

They have been over this a million times and she was too tired to even argue about it. It was better to lay her cards on the table rather than beating around the bush and maybe she would get through his thick skull of his once and for all.

"You're right." He kissed her lightly on her shoulder blade. She loved how easily she got the goose pumps at the touch of his lip ring. He tucked her hair behind her ear and whispered, "This is about you and me AJ, I'm sorry."

She tilted her head to the side to meet with his lips and he took a handful of her hair and pulled her in. His hand slowly slid down and left it on her chest and he could feel that her heart was picking a fast pace. He loved it how he could do that to her.

She wanted more, hell her body was screaming for him to pleasure her but there was a question burning in her mind and she couldn't just brush it off. It was on the tip of her tongue, so to speak, since it was happily dancing inside his mouth but nonetheless it was killing her. "Punk… stop." She managed to say in between kisses.

"Hmm?" he said as he went down kissing her jaw.

"Punk stop, please." And she placed her hands on his chest and slowly pushed him back. She could see that he was confused and whether it was the right opportunity or not, she had to get it off her chest.

"Tell Lita."

"Huh? What?"

"Tell her about us."

She was dead serious and in all honesty she felt a bit better that she got that out of the way. He rolled onto his side and turned on a small night lamp. He must've used it during those sleepless nights reading comic books. The room was still dark but at least she could see his face a bit better. She bit her lip and waited for his reply.

"I…." he took a deep breath and put his head in his hands.

"Well? Look at me Punk." She grabbed onto his hands and pulled them down. He let out a groan of frustration and got up from the bed to find his boxers that were somewhere on the floor. "Punk?"

"I don't know, AJ, what do you want me to say?" He successfully found them and started to slide them up.

"Say that you'll do it; say that you're going to tell Lita!" She pulled the covers up to her chest and held them with her hands and stood up facing Punk who kept on fidgeting to ignore her.

"Punk!"

"What!?"

"What is wrong with you?!"

"Nothing's wrong with me! Don't you think that it's going to crush Lita when I tell her I've been sleeping with you behind her back?"

"Hell, no one said it was going to be easy but it's not fair on her either!"

"Oh so now you suddenly care about Lita?"

"Yes! But I also don't want to do this in secret anymore, Punk I want you all for myself!"

"I already told you AJ, I wish I could give you what you want but-"

"But what?"

"I can't alright! I just can't! I can already see Lita's face when I tell her and it's not going to happen."

He found the rest of his clothes and started to dress himself.

"Oh so what you're saying is that while you keep on seeing Lita, you come and crawl into bed with me when she's not looking?!"

"Don't put words in my mouth, that's not what I'm saying."

"That's exactly what you're saying! I can't believe you Punk. You're so selfish and egotistical! Oh my gosh, I can't believe this right now."

"I think you should leave AJ."

"Excuse me?"

"AJ, I need to be alone. Leave." He folded his arms and looked at her as if she wasn't really there. There it was again, no passion, no remorse. This was exactly what he did to Lita just hours before and now he was doing the same thing again with his AJ Lee. He could fight giants and monsters in a blink of an eye, yet he always found himself running away from the women who love him. He could tell that she was hurt, and who could blame her, she just gave herself to him completely and now he was treating her like nothing more than a piece of meat. She didn't deserve this, and he wished to hold her and hug her but all he could do was watch her cry as she gathered her clothes.

She put on her clothes as fast as she could, how dare he treat her that way? What did she ever do to get this type of treatment? And here she thought she was special to him. She wiped her face with her sleeve and took one last look at her now former lover before heading out. "I fucking hate you CM Punk." And without looking back she went down those three little steps and out.

Those words hit him harder than a steel chair shot in the head would and he was all to blame. He wanted to run after her and tell her that she was the one he wanted to be with but somehow his feet remained glued to the floor. He sat on his bed and put his head in his hands, what did he do? He was now responsible for two broken hearts or more like 3 because he was on the verge of crying himself.

Suddenly he heard a familiar tune and quickly realized that his phone was ringing somewhere in the room. He immediately got up and turned on the lights, desperately searching for it to see who it was. He was praying that it was AJ although he wondered what possibly could she have left to say to him. She made it pretty clear that she hated him so why call?

The phone somehow made its way under the bed (must've got there when he kicked off his pants oh so quickly) and he got down on his knees and reached for it before the other person on the line could hang up. He took one good look at the screen and saw that Lita was calling. He gulped and froze in his place.

_Shit, shit, what to do, what to do! _

He couldn't face her just yet, or else speak to her on the phone for that matter. He was such a coward, now he was the one who hated himself. He tossed the phone on the bed, hopefully Lita would think he's busy with something and just give up, but to his unfortunate luck, she didn't.

The call was transferred to voicemail:

"_Hey Punk, it's me… I don't know why I'm calling to be honest because I'm still not over what you did and I'm still hurt. I'm already at the airport, _gonna_ get on my plane to New Jersey in a few minutes and my hands were itching to call you for some reason. Like I said, I'm still hurt but I won't let it affect our relationship, Punk. I know times are tough and having a somewhat long distance relationship can get to us sometimes but I know that deep down you didn't mean it. Let's work it out? I love you." _

CM Punk stared at his phone the whole time and he couldn't believe his ears. Hearing Lita say those three words tore him to pieces. Those are the same three words he said to AJ Lee and he quickly betrayed those three words all because he felt sorry for himself and because he was such a spineless bastard that he didn't do anything about it.

He went to the bathroom to splash his face with some water and he ran his hands through his slicked hair. He looked himself in the mirror and he was disgusted at what he saw. Where did all that confidence go? Wasn't he the one who usually told it like it is? Why can't he just do the same now?

He looked at himself, examining his own features. He lifted up a finger and ran it over the wrinkles that he had in the corner of his eyes. "I'm in my thirties and she's only in her twenties, Punk think about it." He looked at himself waiting for an answer, as if the man in the mirror was going to answer him back.

"But I love her…" he said to himself, "I fucking love her!"

He didn't take time to wipe his face with a towel but in the heat of the moment he quickly rushed outside running desperately in the search for AJ Lee only to run into Kofi Kingston which caused him to fall on his behind.

"OW! Watch it Punk!" Kofi said as Punk gave out his hand to pick him up.

"I'm sorry Kofi, but did you see AJ?!" Punk grabbed him from his shoulders and looked him dead straight in the eyes.

"Yeah, she was around here a while ago and I asked her if she wanted a ride but she told me to go to hell." He said shrugging his shoulders. He took one look at his jeans and started to wipe off the dirt.

"Do you know where she went, Kofi?!"

"Beats me. I saw her getting into a taxi and that's it. Why?"

"Fucking hell! UGH!" He let out a huge groan and balled his fists up and Kofi just stood there bewildered.

"Am I… missing something here Punk?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"I need to talk to AJ! What am I going to do! I need to talk to her!"

"Ok, ok calm down! Whatever this is about, do you have her cell phone number?"

"Yeah, but I don't think she'll pick up."

"Did you try?"

"No."

"Then what the hell are you waiting for!"

CM Punk rapidly ran inside followed by Kofi and found his Iphone, instantly going through his contact list to find AJ Lee. He hit the call button and anxiously waited for the beeping sound.

"It's ringing." He said to Kofi who stood there concentrated on Punk trying to figure out what just happened. "She's not picking up!"

"Wait a moment, Punk."

"She's not answering God damn it!" Punk threw the phone across the room and it hit the wall with a thud and crashed to the floor.

"What is going on Punk? I have never seen you like this."

"What am I going to do Kofi? I love her, I love AJ!" and Punk sank to his knees in desperation, "I fucking love her!"

"Hey now." Kofi went down on his knees right next to Punk and hugged him. "It's alright, now."

He had never seen his road buddy collapse like that and literally cry. CM Punk and crying never went into a sentence together and now here he was consoling him. Punk kept on repeating the same words over and over again and Kofi was trying his best to keep it together because someone had to. "It's alright come on now."

"I lost her Kofi, what am I going to do?"

Kofi wished he knew all the answers but all he could do was rub CM Punk's back while he was sobbing. "Punk, you need to tell me the whole story, because apart from the fact that you love AJ, I don't know anything else."

Punk looked up at his friend and wiped his nose with his sleeve. He couldn't believe that a young girl could bring him to this state. The CM Punk, the WWE Champion, was on his knees because of a girl, no she was more than a girl, she was a woman. A woman who wanted to be his but he was too scared to make the next move.

"Come on get up and tell me." Kofi got up and extended out a hand for Punk to grab. They both sat on the bed as Punk started spilling his dirty secret to someone else for the very first time.


	8. Chapter 8

Kofi stared intensely at his best friend trying to digest the words that were coming out of CM Punk's mouth. He couldn't believe that the CM Punk was practically involved in a love triangle and it almost seemed too good to be true. It could easily pass as a storyline yet this was actually happening in real life, and he still had trouble believing that all of it was real.

He let Punk finish and as silence grew in the room he finally spoke up, "So what are your plans?" He tried picking his words wisely but he was never in this type of situation before and that was all he could come up with.

"I want to see AJ." Punk immediately said without even thinking twice. His nose was still stuffed and he kept on sniffling.

Kofi rubbed his neck and sighed, Punk was totally losing it right in front of him and he thought about slapping him to bring some sense back into this head. "Why do you want to see AJ if you can't tell Lita? Don't you think it's a bit unfair for well, all of you to be honest." Kofi shrugged his shoulders and continued, "The way I see it, the further this goes on the more damage it will cause. Plus Lita deserves to know the truth; she never did anything bad to you Punk."

"But if I tell her, it will destroy her Kofi. "

"Look, no one said it was going to be easy…" Kofi echoed AJ's words, the same words that were unquestionably still ringing in Punk's ears. The look on her face when she told him that she hated him created an image that will burn in his head and he was all to blame. "But the truth hurts and you've got to face it. Come on Punk, out of all people I never thought you'd have a problem facing ugly situations. Just do it and put an end to it."

Punk sighed nodding in defeat and slipped his hands in his pockets. He knew what he had to do; after all it was the right thing. If Lita was the one who did the bad deed, he would have wanted to know and it was only fair. He wondered whether Lita was waiting for him to call or text back. She said she wanted to work things out and she even professed her love to him despite the horrible treatment he gave her earlier and that just made things more complicated for him.

His nervously ran his tongue over his lip ring and started to play with it. He kept his gaze fixed on the floor beneath him and he was thinking hard. How was he going to break it to her? He had to do it face to face for sure. He may be an asshole but at least he knew that no one deserved to be dumped over the phone, it was unethical. In his case it would have been much easier to do it like that if he wanted to, after all he'd escape a possible punch in the nose and if she started to scream, he could easily hang up. He knew that he would be taking the easiest way out and he was actually angry at himself that he was contemplating it.

"She deserves someone that will treat her good and I know I can't be that guy. I thought I was but… yeah." There was a hint of disappointment in his voice and Kofi just nodded. "But after I tell her, do you think AJ will come back?" Punk looked up at Kofi like a little innocent child. He actually thought it was cute how throughout all of this, AJ was still his number one priority in his mind. He knew that AJ wasn't just another 'fuck' so to speak; CM Punk had genuine feelings for this girl and it was driving him insane.

"I can't promise you anything man, but one could hope for the best." He patted his friend on his back and gave him an encouraging smile. Kofi thought he did a fine job at helping Punk sort his problem out and now it was his friend's turn to stand up and take the first step. He just prayed that he would get out this whole shindig alive.

"I know what I have to do, thanks Kofi." He gave his road buddy a manly hug though no one can erase Kofi's memory of CM Punk bawling his eyes out on the floor. That was going to be a secret that unfortunately he had to keep but he was glad that he had this opportunity to see a different side to CM Punk.

* * *

AJ was still in a taxicab making her way to the nearest hotel available. She hated riding cabs during this type of hour but she tried to keep her mind off it by looking out at the unfamiliar streets. She rolled the windows down and let the cold breeze hit her face and her hair was flying all over the place but she didn't care. She was already a hot mess, and she had no one to impress.

She kept biting her lip, trying to hold back the tears that she desperately wanted to let out. She actually wanted to scream and kick and punch and just generally go batshit crazy but she couldn't; there was the driver watching her from the rear view mirror.

"Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?" She heard a voice and AJ's face turned pale.

_Oh shit, oh shit. _

She looked nervously around her trying to find the right words. She wasn't in the mood right now plus she was already scared as hell.

"I think you're mistaking me for somebody else."

"Could be. You know who you look like? Don't know if you watch wrestling but there's one of them and she looks like ya."

"I'm not a fan of wrestling, so I'm definitely not who you think I am." AJ casually shrugged her shoulders trying to play it off. Apart from being a good wrestler, one had to be a great actor to tell a story and she was grateful that her acting skills were helpful even outside the ring.

"Yeah. Celebrities aren't the taxi types you know?" His eyes were darting back and forth from the road to the rear view mirror. She couldn't see his face clearly but she thought he sounded to be in his mid forties.

She couldn't help but smile at the fact that she was just called a 'celebrity' yet her smile quickly disappeared when she realized that_ she_ herself was using a taxicab. Some celebrity she was.

"Okay, here it is." The driver announced as the car came to a sudden halt, "It's not the fanciest but it's good."

AJ peeked her head out from the window and looked up. The hotel was brightly lit up and the building looked like it stretched for miles. This was better than expected.

"Wow, this looks amazing! Thank you so much!" She said as she got out 20 bucks and handed it to him.

"You're welcome! Oh and I remembered her name, that wrestling girl I talked about? It was AJ something."

"I still have no clue, sorry!"

AJ got her hand bag, hopped off the taxi cab and dashed through the revolving door. She easily booked a room for the night and the nice lady behind the reception handed her the keys. AJ made her way to the 3rd floor and the second she got in, she ran for the bed and jumped on it.

She let out a sigh of sadness as she tucked her hands under the pillow and buried her face into it. For the first time she was all alone, there was no Kaitlyn to the rescue, no CM Punk, no Daniel Bryan, no nobody and come to think of it, she liked it like that. There was no one to judge her, only herself to think over the things that happened to her in the last 24 hours. She cleared her mind, trying to push all the problems to the back of her head and she got up to take a hot shower.

She reached for her little bag, fishing for her cell phone and after almost pulling everything out of the bag, she finally found it. She flipped it open and saw a missed call from Punk. "Hah, like hell I'll talk to you, jerk." She looked at her phone in disgust, snapped it shut and tossed it over the bed. So much for clearing her head, all she could think about was how CM Punk basically threw her out of his tour bus despite his so called love for her. What if he was just using her to fill those empty nights without Lita? That must be the reason why he didn't want to tell her, he still cared for Lita.

She entered the bathroom and grabbed a towel.

"Shit, I forgot my things… _again_!" She remembered leaving the rest of her stuff behind in CM Punk's tour bus and she mentally beat herself up because of it. It was like her subconscious making her forget things in order to see Punk on purpose. To hell with CM Punk, he can keep her clothes; she wasn't going to look even in his direction now, except for when they're in the ring during a promo of course.

And then her mind clicked. There was another problem, _of course there was_. Dating a colleague or in this case, sleeping with a colleague of yours meant that when things end, you still had to face him in the work place whether you liked it or not and there she was, planning on never talking to his stupid face ever again. She knew that she was going to have another promo with him next Monday and she was dreading the moment that they'll hand her her lines.

She looked at herself in the mirror and forced a smile. She was a mess, and not just emotionally but also physically. She rubbed the smudged eyeliner from under her eyes and huffed. "I think… I love you." Punk said in her head. If he really loved her, he'd tell Lita but guess CM Punk was too chicken to do it. _Best in the World I think not._ CM Punk was a douche bag, a coward and a jerk but she loved him and there was no point in trying to deny that.

What did Lita had over AJ Lee? Was it the age difference, the fact that she must have been more experienced than her? Both in the bed and in the ring? Wasn't AJ Lee up to par with Lita? Or maybe he just liked red heads better. Her mind was wandering off in the wrong direction and she wasn't thinking straight. "I think… I love you." Yep, there it was. He thought he loved her, he didn't actually love her. He must've said it in the heat of the moment, there weren't any other explanations.

She kept looking at herself, her chin trembling "How stupid can you be!" she screamed at herself. Tears were streaming down her face and she wanted to break the mirror with her own fist but she wasn't in the mood to pay hotel damages. "Nobody loves you, AJ and it's all your fault!" she was pulling her hair out and crying hysterically. She tossed all of the small bottles of soap off the sink and fell to the cold floor in a fetal position and continued to sob. She was deeply hurt, and no one could help to ease the heart ache. She was all alone in this world.

* * *

Kofi was already passed out on the couch and CM Punk was left alone wide awake. He was never the type of guy that went to sleep at night and tonight was no different. In fact AJ was the sole reason of him staying up that night, how could he shut his eyes if an image of AJ quickly flashed right before him every time he tried to close an eye? There was no escape from her.

CM Punk got up from the couch opposite Kofi and went to the front. "Hey Rob, change of plans, we're going to New Jersey."

"New Jersey it is, sir." The driver nodded and turned the tour bus around. Punk crossed his arms on his chest and took a deep breath. This was definitely going to be a long process.

"Something wrong?" Rob took a quick look at CM Punk and then focused again on the empty road.

"Nah, just have some things to deal with."

"Well the sooner you take care of them, the better."

If only Rob knew what or in his case, _who _he had to deal with, it was always easier said than done but nonetheless he was right. Punk wasn't afraid anymore, he was determined. Lita deserved to know the truth and AJ Lee deserved to be happy, but where did CM Punk fit in all this? What exactly was he going to get after everything goes down? He hated the fact that the outcome was still unknown. He was usually the one who if he wanted something, he'll do anything in his power to get it, but now he had to rely on faith and that was something that he didn't quite believe in.

CM Punk ran a hand through his slicked hair and took a deep breath, "Thanks Rob."

"Anytime."

He went in the back again, not sure what to do with himself to occupy his time. It was already 3AM and he hoped that by noon he'd be in New Jersey. He slumped down on the couch and kicked his trainers off. He wondered where AJ was right now, whether she was sad or happy or sleeping safe and sound. Who was he kidding? Of course she wasn't happy, knowing AJ she's somewhere crying her eyes out and he wished he was there to wipe away those tears and make everything okay. He wanted to hold her in his arms where he thought she rightfully belonged, caress her hair and tell her over and over again that she was beautiful. Her smile was the first thing he loved about her, the second she showed her pearly white teeth the room lights up and there would be a sudden change in the air. AJ was different from all the women he's dated, or slept with for that matter. Every time he was with her, it was like a new experience and he loved how she could still surprise him out of the blue. She had her own way of going around things and he definitely wanted more and he'd kill anyone that tried to get in the way.

Punk had no other threats except for himself but somehow deep down he had a nasty feeling. Daniel Bryan. If that man ever tries to even take a step in AJ's direction, he'll make sure to rip his heart out. It didn't take much for Daniel Bryan to seize the opportunity and creep back into AJ's life when she was at her weakest. That sleezeball would do anything to have his last laugh.

He got up to get some juice from his fridge to take his mind off things and his leg caught on something and he tripped causing him to land with a huge 'thud'. He took a quick look at Kofi to see if he woke him up but his friend didn't even flinch. You could set off a bomb and chances of Kofi not waking up were still relatively high, that man could sleep for days if he wanted to.

Punk looked at his leg and grabbed the strap that was around it. "The fuck is this?" There was something under the couch and he pulled it out. It was a small black bag that had different types of patches on it. He unzipped it and took out the first thing he saw, a small pink t-shirt with skulls and hearts on it.

"AJ…" he chuckled to himself. He grabbed it from the sleeves and held it up to admire it. It was so small not even his hands could fit into it if he tried and it still had that strawberry smell on it that he loved. "Oh AJ, I hope you'll come back to me."


	9. Chapter 9

Punk was running and he was out of breath but his legs kept on going forward like they had a mind of their own. There was a door in the end and he could hear the door bell ringing. He was making his way to the door and his hand was already reaching out for the knob.

"Punk, Punk! Wake up!" Kofi shook his unconscious friend. It was already noon and Punk was still lying on the couch in his day clothes sleeping. "Hey Punk!" Kofi started whistling in Punk's ear, making sure he woke him up from his deep sleep.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Punk said waving a hand at Kofi as if he was shooing a fly away and in this case, the fly was Kofi himself.

"Damn man, you scared me half to death! Since when does CM Punk sleep? If I have been touring with you for 3 years, this was the first time that I had to wake you up." Kofi was quite the chatter especially in the mornings and today was no exception to Punk's delight. "Plus you were muttering in your sleep, it was so weird."

Punk raised an eyebrow and then processed to rub his eyes and yawn. "I have never slept for this long. I don't know what came over me." He sat up and stretched his hands and legs.

"Hey what's that?" There had been a black shirt that Punk was sleeping on and now it was all in wrinkles. Punk immediately realized what it was but Kofi grabbed it before he could. "Seems like a girl's shirt of some sort."

Punk rolled his eyes, a bit embarrassed that he ended up sleeping with it like a little blanket. "It's AJ's." He muttered under his breath.

"But why was it there?"

"Kofi please. I'm hungry and I'm not in the mood for chitchat this morning." Punk was imagining a cup of hot steaming coffee in his hands with some bacon and eggs right in front of him ready to be devoured. His mouth was already getting watery just by thinking about it and his stomach started to growl like a hungry wolf just in time. He forgot the last time that he ate something.

"Morning? It's technically the afternoon because it's 12.05, you know." Kofi showed Punk his watch and grinned like a little child who finally understood the concept of time.

"Remind me why I let you ride with me again?"

"_Ha ha_, very funny. Actually Punk, I was wondering why we're here in New Jersey. Rob didn't want to tell me for some reason." Kofi shrugged his shoulders and slumped right next to CM Punk. He hadn't been up for 5 minutes that he was already reminded of the little problem that he had to deal with.

"Lita's in New Jersey."

"Oh. Are you going to do it?"

"Isn't that the right thing, Kofi?" Punk snapped at his friend a little bit too much. He could grab a microphone and scream at another person for 3 whole hours if he wanted to but confronting a woman, especially if that was Amy or Lita if you will, when he was at fault was another thing. Punk was never wrong, but this time he was on the other side of the fence and he had problems trying to cope with it. This was all new to him and he reached the point where he wanted to end everything and let it go even though he had no clue on how to tackle it.

"Chill man, we're all here for you."

"Kofi, I'm not in the mood for this sentimental crap right now. If you don't mind I want to be alone." Punk sat on the edge of his seat, placing his elbows on his thighs. He ran a hand over his face and messy hair and groaned. Without a word, Kofi got up and left his friend all alone with his thoughts. He liked the fact that Kofi respected him and left instead of continuing to berate him with nonsensical thoughts and comments.

He checked his phone to see if AJ had tried to contact him through the night but there weren't any missed calls. She must've deleted his number already, he though to himself. He went through his contact list and found his girlfriend's number and he stared at it for a minute of two. He lifted his thumb up to press it but it seemed like his finger froze and he couldn't move it. "Come on, you stupid son a bitch. Just do it." He hated himself. He finally understood how people can hate themselves so much because right at that moment, he wanted to take his away life. He reluctantly pressed the number and let it ring.

"Hello?"

"It's me… I'm in New Jersey, where are you?"

"Oh my God! Are you serious?! I've been waiting for you to call me back for so long now!"

He could tell that Lita's happiness was so genuine that he actually felt like he was on the verge of crying because he knew that he would be taking that smile away when he'd see her. He tried to ignore her enthusiasm so she wouldn't get suspicious. He was a great actor but he couldn't fake it when he knew that he was in deep trouble.

"Where are you staying?"

"Uh… "He could hear the crumbling of papers in the background and he knew that she was searching for the address because she couldn't remember it. "Hold on." It took Lita a couple of seconds to finally find the location of the hotel and she gave it to him.

"Okay, so I'll see you there at around 4 maybe?" Punk looked at his watch and calculated.

"Yeah okay! I'll be here waiting for you!"

"Okay. Bye."

"Punk wait!"

"What?"

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, I'm just tired." Punk lied through his teeth. He didn't want to hear her voice anymore, he couldn't stand it. He was aware of the fact that he wasn't even putting any effort into his lie, and he knew that she was going to get suspicious at some point or another. And to his dismay he knew how Lita was. She'd never stop until she'd get the truth out of him and you can guarantee that she was going to use that tactic on him later that day.

"…okay." He heard her say on the other line. She wasn't convinced of his response but she tried to shrug it off, she didn't want to get paranoid already. "I'll see you at 4 then?"

"Yeah, bye."

He didn't give her a chance to say anything else and he quickly hung up and threw the phone on the couch across him. He closed his eyes and threw his head back. He remembered all the good times he had with Lita and he couldn't say that he didn't have any, because there were a lot. He had been dating Lita for over a year now, and despite being away from each other most of the time, they'd make their meetings worth the wait and he knew that even though they sometimes spent months without seeing each other, he was in love with her. They had so much in common, from the bands they listen to down to the insomnia they both suffered from which was a good thing because they used to have sex almost every night so he was always preoccupied during the late hours with her.

He bit his lip at his image that he had of her on top of him having her way with him. She had skills like no other and he loved to grab a handful of that fiery red hair in his hands when he gave it to her good after she begged him to go faster and harder. But then there was AJ, boy she was something else. _Jesus Punk, is sex all you can think about? _His thoughts were screaming at him and they were right. He shook his head and got up to go wash his face.

Time rolled by and before Punk knew it, it was already 4pm and he was standing right in front of her door with hands shaking. Kofi gave him a thumbs up before he went out to the battle field and wished him good luck. He'd usually tell him that luck was for losers, but today he felt like a loser so he needed all the luck in the world to survive. It was now or never. He lifted his hand up and quietly knocked three times on her door and waited.

He could hear the moving around and shuffling on the other side of the door as if someone was running from one side of the room to the other and after a couple of seconds he was greeted by Lita leaping into his arms and wrapped her legs around him. He was so used to holding AJ's tiny frame that he almost lost his balance when it came to holding Lita's weight up.

"I've missed you so much!" she said in-between kisses and he was shocked that he was kissing her back. This was bad. "I don't care what happened back in your locker room, Punk." She said as she got down and gave him a seductive look. She got on her tiptoes and bit his lip ring, "I want you bad boy, but we can't do it here." Her eyes moved sideways and despite being all alone in the corridor, he nodded.

She pulled him in by his shirt into her small little room and walked him to the bed. She wasn't interested in how his day was or if he woke up in a good or a bad mood; she only wanted one thing from him and he soon got the message after she started peeling off his jacket and kissing his neck.

"Where are the guys?" Punk's voice was trembling by now; trying to ignore the fact that Lita was turning him on. He tried changing the subject but how can he when there was a woman ready to have sex with him at that very minute.

"I told the rest of the band to head out for the evening. They deserved a break, and I'm sure you deserve one too eh?" she said as she whispered into his ear. She pushed him on the bed and got on top of him.

"L-Lita don't you think this is sort of too soon? I mean I just got here." How in the world was he going to break it to her when she was already ready to pounce on him like a lion? He gulped as she made her way down again to his neck and started to bite. "Lita, Lita…" but she ignored him. He looked up at the ceiling above him and thought about his initial purpose of his visit.

_Punk you didn't come here to have sex, just tell her!_ His thoughts were screaming at him to do the right thing but he found himself unable to move under her power. A mental image of AJ came to his mind and he bit his lip, he should be with AJ right now, not with Lita attempting to have meaningless sex. This was pathetic and he was disgusted at himself.

"Fucking hell Lita, stop it!" He grabbed her from her arms and pushed her off of him like a piece of meat. He got up from the bed and started to pace back and forth in the room.

Lita's eyes were fixed on Punk, following him as he moved around the room. She was utterly confused and speechless of what just transpired right in front of her. Did her boyfriend just refuse sex? There was a look of concern on her face and she was a bit embarrassed that she threw herself like that at him when he didn't want to. "Punk? What… I…" She was trying to add things up but she came up with nothing. She looked at Punk waiting for some answers but he looked like he didn't even have them himself. _What is going on?_

"Look, okay. I didn't come here to have sex Lita." He was sweating now and he could feel the room getting hotter and hotter by the second and it wasn't because of Lita's ways of seduction. His heart was racing and he kept on playing with his lip ring using his tongue.

He gave Lita one good look, trying to find the right words to say but he couldn't. He just shook his head at her and inhaled deeply. Lita's facial expression changed from a confused one to a nervous one, she didn't like what she was seeing at all. She hated being paranoid but Punk just gave her something to worry about.

"What is it? Tell me. Punk, you're hiding something… what is it?" She got off the bed and stared directly into his eyes afraid of what he might tell her. She kept her composure but she'd be lying if she'd say she wasn't scared at all. There was something he desperately wanted to tell her and she was searching into his eyes trying to find the answer. "Fucking hell Punk, don't play games with me!"

"Lita…" his eyes were getting misty, and almost inaudibly he said, "I can't do this anymore…"

"Wait, what?! Why?" Her eyes were wide open now and her eyebrows were raised. Were her ears deceiving her or was she hearing correctly?

"There's no easy way to say this Lita…"

"Just spit it out." She crossed her tattooed arms across her chest and tilted her head slightly on the side, waiting impatiently for his answer. Her foot was tapping on the floor and he ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"There's-"

"Somebody else, is there?" She finished his sentence and prayed that she was wrong; maybe he'd deny it and tell her that she was just being paranoid for nothing but he remained silent just looking into her eyes and that's where she found out. "Oh my God…" she clasped a hand onto her mouth, her chin trembling as tears were welling up in her eyes.

"Who is it? And how long has it been going on?" she bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears but they were uncontrollably rolling down her cheeks. He lifted his hands to wipe them away but she pushed him using all of her strength. He was almost knocked down but he tumbled a bit backwards. "WHO WAS IT YOU SON OF A BITCH!" she was pointing a finger at him now waiting for him to say a word. That was Amy, delicate and vulnerable at one second, a raging bull the next.

"…I think it's best if you don't know who it is." He kept his composure; he didn't want to lose it. The truth was coming out and he was just doing what had to be done.

"It's that little AJ, is it?" And Punk's eyes immediately shot up to look at her and that was all she needed, "I fucking knew it! I heard you two arguing when she came to your locker room, and that's why you were angry so much. How can I be so fucking stupid?!"

"Lita, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen…" There was no point in denying it now; this was just part of the process.

"Oh but it did, didn't it? And what am I supposed to do now huh? I spent a whole year of my life with you to get what? You fucking cheated on me CM Punk!" She was crying hysterically now and Punk tried to hold her but she pushed him away again, "Don't you dare touch me, you filthy bastard."

"Lita listen to me, I love you." Was he even trying at all? He hated himself more than Lita or AJ did now. He knew he was a jerk, but not like this, not a two-timing jerk and he wasn't even sorry.

"Is that what you tell AJ when you're fucking her?" Lita was angry but he could see it in her eyes, all the pain and hurt that he caused all because he betrayed her love for another's.

"Lita stop it! I came here to tell you the truth because I knew you deserved to hear it."

"Oh and you think just because you told me, you deserve some sort of reward? Do want a trophy, a certificate huh?"

"You're talking rubbish now. I came here to do this because that was the right thing to do. I completely understand your reaction because you have the right to do and say what you want."

"The hell I will, how many times was it?"

"That is irrelevant Lita; you don't have to know about that." This only meant that it wasn't just a onetime thing, and she didn't need his confirmation because the look on his face was proof enough.

"And do you love her?" she finally said after a moment of silence.

And there it was the question he was dreading to answer all day long. The truth was out now and things couldn't get any worse and he decided that if he was going to lay all the cards on the table, he wasn't going to hide anymore. What good could come out from lying even more now? He wanted to let her know where he stood with AJ.

He shifted his weight from one foot to another and slipped his hands in his pockets, "I'm not with AJ right now, but yes, I do love her." He was so blunt about it that it came off like he didn't even care about Lita's feelings whatsoever which cued into more crying.

"Listen Lita, I wish I could turn back time, I really do. I love you and you deserve someone who'll treat you better than I ever did. I don't deserve you, hell I don't even deserve AJ because I've treated everyone like shit and honestly, feel free to punch me if you want to. I could stand here and lie to your face but I just can't do it any longer. It's better to say it now before this dragged on for far too long and I know you don't think I mean it, but I truly am sorry."

Still sobbing, she closed her eyes and held her head down in sadness. Silence grew between them and he wanted to hug and console her of the grief that he solely caused her. He hated seeing her like this. She took a deep breath and muttered, "Do you have any idea what I'm feeling right now Punk? You fucking shredded me to pieces…"

"I know alright! But there wasn't any other way to do this and getting hurt wasn't an option because whatever I do or say, someone is going to end up hurt anyways. I know you had different plans on what you wanted to do today, but I can't do this anymore."

"So now what? You're just going to leave me high and dry?" She looked up him with innocent eyes.

"What do you want me to say Lita?"

"You're a fucking bastard CM Punk. " Lita said shaking her head in disbelief. It wasn't the first time he heard that and it didn't affect him at all. "So what, you drove all the way here to tell me you cheated on me?"

"I didn't want to call you and do it like that. At least know that I had the fucking balls to come here and admit it to your face that I cheated on you. I didn't hide behind any computers or phones."

"Oh how brave of you! The WWE Champion everyone!"

"Lita, stop with all this sarcasm. I can tell you're pissed and hurt but you don't have to go there." He was still sympathetic but his blood boiled every time someone used his current status in the WWE against him.

Yeah, he was the WWE Champion; AJ Lee had the privilege to remind him every time he slept with her. So what if he wasn't a clean cut champion? He honestly didn't care if he got fired because of this, it was his own fault and there's a price to pay for everything. He just hoped that Lita wouldn't go to the internet and blast this off to the moon. Not that he'd give a damn but he preferred to keep personal things personal.

Lita walked over to the door and opened it, "I think you should leave…"

"That's it?"

"What else is there to say? Get out." She had a look of disgust on her face and she couldn't even look him in the eyes. There was a man who betrayed her in the room and she wanted him to disappear. "Go on, out."

Punk accepted her wish and he started to make his way to the door. As he took his first step outside into the corridor, he turned around and said, "I'm sorry that I caused you all this pain."

"You should have thought about that before you did anything." She slammed the door in his face before he could say another word and he stood there staring at the black door. He heard something break like a vase or something and he could tell that she was taking out her frustration on the first things she could get her hands on.

He bit his lip and said his final goodbye to his one of his great girlfriends. He slowly made his way out of the building and hopped on the tour bus which was parked in the hotel's parking lot.

"So how did it go?" Punk was immediately met with Kofi and the curious look on his face. He was eagerly and impatiently waiting for his friend to come back not sure whether he would return or not. He was glad to see his road buddy in one piece and unharmed. "No broken bones?" He joked.

"No broken bones…" Punk said giving him a hopeless smile. "It went…" Punk gave it a few seconds to choose his words, "…better than expected I guess." He shrugged his shoulders and pursed his lips.


	10. Chapter 10

Kofi patted his friend on his back. He was proud that Punk finally did what had to be done; he just hoped that there weren't any other obstacles in the way except for little Miss. AJ. He was aware of the fact that Punk was head over heels for this girl but he honestly thought that their match was a match made in hell and it was highly unlikely that they were going to be together anytime soon. He kept his private thoughts to himself though, because he didn't want to discourage his friend after all that he'd been through. He was already preparing himself for the worst and he knew he was going to be there when AJ Lee told Punk to hit the road.

"So what are we going to do now?" Kofi said, tapping his finger on his chin.

"I'm going to get that tub of ice-cream from the freezer and eat my feelings away." Punk had trouble showcasing his true emotions despite his previous break down in hysterics episode.

Kofi chuckled and shook his head as CM Punk took out a spoon from the drawer. "You're acting like a 16 year old teenage girl who just got dumped for the first time."

"Unless you want to be left in New Jersey Kofi, shut the hell up." Punk winked at his friend and went at the back carrying a sealed strawberry ice cream tub ready to be devoured. He heard the 'click' of the lock being turned and for a second there, he was afraid that he might do something stupid but then again this was CM Punk and CM Punk could take care of himself without anybody's help.

* * *

It was Monday night and AJ arrived at the arena 3 hours before the show started. The seats were already being filled with eager fans and she discreetly made her way backstage avoiding eye contact with anyone. She didn't want to see or talk to anybody, even though she had to face about 2,000 of screaming fans later that day but that was another thing.

She was still hurt and the wound in her heart was still fresh but she was learning to deal with it the best way she could. She vowed to herself to never fall for a guy, especially if that guy was working in the same company as she was and she was immediately reminded that she was going to have another segment with Punk tonight. _Business is business_, she reassured herself, there was no point in pulling her hair out over it. It wasn't like she could just go to the creative team and ask them to ditch the storyline all because of her feelings. They would laugh right at her face and so she was going to be professional about it, like she should be, and pull it off like it's nothing.

She got her things settled in the diva's locker room which was still empty. She knew that Kaitlyn was going to be little late but the others should arrive in a couple of minutes or so. She'll know when she'll hear a lot of noise coming from outside. The other divas loved to travel together, but AJ always felt like the odd one out so she preferred going solo rather than pretend to be all girly all the time just to get a free ride, even though it seemed tempting sometimes.

There was a knock on the door and she reluctantly made her way to open it. "Here are your lines." A guy wearing a head set told her. She took the small booklet from his hands and thanked him.

She sat down with the book in her hands and stared at the front page. She sighed in frustration, not really looking forward to what the book had in store for her. She slowly flipped it open and went through the pages which had everything that was scheduled for that day. After she turned to page 20, she found her segment with Punk and skimmed it thoroughly. It was about 4 pages long and she calculated that it was going to take almost 15 minutes of air time. _That was odd._

With furrowed brows she went back to the beginning and quickly read it. CM Punk was going to try and make her "join the dark side" if you will and she was going to slap him and say that she was never going to turn her back on the WWE Universe.

"So far so good." She mumbled at herself and she turned to the next page.

And that's where she realized that she had spoken too soon. "What the hell is this?" Blood rushed to her head and she was starting to look like a pumpkin, oh she was furious. "This can't be happening, no!" she pleaded as her eyes were darting from left to right reading everything in one breath. She felt as though she was about to cry, but she choked back the tears.

She stomped her way out of the locker room to find someone that was responsible for writing this garbage.

"Hey you!" she called out to the guy that handed her the script and he turned around with a confused look on his face. She walked up to him and looked up, "Who wrote this?" She lifted up the script and waved it in front of his face.

"Why, what's wrong with… it?" He took a step back afraid of the little petite diva that she might pull on something on him.

"Who gave it to you?"

"I don't know, I'm just doing my job! This is my second week here; please don't do anything to me!" He said with his voice cracking after each word he spoke. He lifted his arms to cover his face.

"Relax, I'm not going to do anything to you!" AJ Lee rolled her eyes at the young boy. He had blonde spiky hair and green eyes. _Punk had green eyes._ He was wearing a Randy Orton t-shirt complete with a pair of dark blue jeans.

"What's your name?"

"Michael…"

"Well Michael, tell whoever gave you this goddamn script that I'm not doing it!"

"What's wrong with it?"

"I will NOT turn heel!"

He raised an eyebrow and quietly asked, "What's a heel?"

"Jesus, they're literally hiring _anyone_ now are they!?"

She left Michael dumb founded and she went around in search for someone who actually knew what was going on. She found the door where some of the creative team were staying at and she knocked three times. A bald man came out and he gave one look at AJ, "Yes?"

"What is this? I will not be turning heel and join Punk! This is absurd! What about my fans! No, I can't!" She was starting to freak out and her eyes were getting puffy. She didn't want to cry especially in front of someone who could easily tell Vince McMahon to fire her and she nervously bit at her bottom lip.

"Listen, I'm sorry it's affecting you badly, but the script isn't going to change as far as I know. We'll see how it works out and if it doesn't, we'll just make it look like you were off your rocker big time and you 'll somehow get mentally stable again or whatever." He took the script from her hands and found her segment.

"But I'm the Raw GM; you can't do this to me! I have responsibilities!"

"But as from today on, your responsibility is to keep that belt on CM Punk and of course you have to be his on screen lover and yada yada yada, I'm sure you know the rest."

"But what if I'm not comfortable with this segment?"

"Honey, this is nothing compared to what other people had to go through. I don't know what's going on but keep this strictly professional and you'll be fine."

AJ Lee found her back against the wall and couldn't object anymore. She didn't want to make him think that she wasn't ready for this; she was more than ready, in fact she made a great heel but not with what was going on between Punk and her in real life. If she said another word, she might as well find herself wrestling a one minute match on Superstars and that wasn't something she was planning on to do in the near future. This was what she worked for all her life, all those nights she spent homeless and hungry, this was her big ticket and she wasn't going to let someone named CM Punk take everything away from her.

She took a deep breath to regain her composure and pushed some of her hair behind her ears, "Alright."

"Now that's what I'd like to hear! Break a leg tonight, or Vince will break mine!"

He winked at her and before she knew it, she was alone in the corridor. She made her way back to her locker room and to her dismay; it was now occupied by the rest of the diva roster. She wouldn't have minded if Kaitlyn was there to the rescue, but her friend was running late and she had to face each and every single of them by herself.

"Hey, there's AJ! Didn't know you were planning to hop on the dark side, little girl!" Rosa yelled from the other side. She was already in her outfit, sitting in front of the mirror straightening her hair.

"I didn't know either, trust me."

"What? You didn't know you were going to turn heel?" Eve jumped now into the conversation. She was still in her bathrobe and flip flops.

"No. And it sucks you know, because I could have gotten a head's up but no, I literally just found out an hour ago." AJ shrugged her shoulders defenseless. There was no point in being mad about it, it was what it was and she had to do her job.

"Aw, that's bad honey, but you'll get through it!" Rosa said again.

AJ gave them a weak smile and she went over to where her belongings were and started to take her stuff out. She had made plans to wear a white suit but since she was supposedly 'joining the dark side' now, she opted for some black trousers and a red blazer. She sighed as she looked at her clothes, she wasn't ready to turn heel yet. The crowd loved her and she could sufficiently say that she was the only diva that got a pop every time her music hit and nobody else. Now they were going to hate her and boo her and come to think of it, it was still a reaction but alas it was still a negative one and she knew that she was going to miss interacting with the crowd when it came to segments.

How in the world was she going to rule Raw alongside CM Punk? The idea was brilliant on paper but her little insecurities could easily get in the way of most probably one of the best storylines of the year.

Suddenly she felt her phone vibrate in her jeans pocket and she pulled it out and flipped it open.

"I know we're not on good terms but we need to talk about tonight. "

_Keep it professional, AJ!_ The voice in her head kept on screaming and it was right.

She texted CM Punk on where to meet him and not after a couple of seconds later, her phone vibrated again.

"I'm already in my dressing room. Come."

She politely excused herself from the locker room and she soon found herself right in front of his door.

"This is just business." She reassured herself and she knocked three times. And as if Punk was waiting anxiously for her behind the door, he immediately opened it and before she could even put her hand down, he pulled her in for a big hug.

"Punk! Punk! Put me down!" she said as she wriggled away from his tight grasp. That sweet strawberry scent filled his nostrils and he melted inside. It was the first time he saw her after he kicked her out from his tour bus and he remembered how she looked back with hurt in her eyes and told him that she hated his guts.

"Sorry about that…" He quickly put her down and cleared his throat, "Yeah, uh, wanna come inside?"

"I'd rather do this here." It was already hard to make eye contact with those big green eyes of his and she didn't want to be her normal friendly self around him, after all he didn't even deserve it. She was still angry at him but she needed to be the mature one.

"Alright." He was uneasy and uncomfortable at how cold AJ was acting but he couldn't blame her. He just wanted to grab her from her shoulders and tell her that he told Lita but it clearly wasn't the right time or place to do it. He remembered that eventful night again, what the hell was he thinking? "First, please note that I had no clue that this was going to do down. Honestly."

"I know and I don't want to turn heel yet but if that's what I have to do, then it's my job and my duty. There's nothing much to say but whatever was between me and you is over now so we'll just keep this strictly business. After all you're a colleague of mine, and we were bound to clash together at some point or another." She said matter-o-factly. She didn't let her mind wander off to other places, and in order to stay on topic, she kept her gaze fixed on the chipped paint on the wall.

"AJ, look at me…" He put a single finger under her chin and lifted her head up.

"Don't touch me!" she said as she slapped his hand away.

"Jesus, AJ!"

"No, don't pull that crap on me right now." She pointed her index finger at him, "Let's keep this strictly business like I said and we'll both be fine. No ifs, ands or buts. Understand?"

Punk was still surprised at her behavior; this wasn't the cute little AJ he knew. He only nodded and she gave him a fake smile, "Good. Now do you have any questions for tonight?"

"Uh… yeah, you'll follow my lead and we'll continue from there?"

"Sounds good."

"You do realize that I have to carry you out of the ring bridal style and have to kiss you again before we go backstage right?"

"Yes." She said taking a deep breath, "It will mean nothing but we have to do it anyways."

"AJ are you sure you are okay?"

"Punk, listen. I am not interested in you anymore and quite frankly I don't even want to be your friend. Let's keep this-"

"Strictly business." He mimicked her as he stuck out his tongue.

"Don't make fun of me you fucking jerk face! Ugh!" she pushed him with all her strength and she stormed off angry down the hall. This was going be harder than he thought. How was he going to tell her that he left Lita just to be with her when she didn't even want to be his friend?

He took a look at the script again and out of nowhere, a light bulb went on in his head. AJ didn't want to listen to him, but AJ the RAW GM had to and he smiled at himself, feeling accomplished of thinking of such a brilliant idea.

* * *

It was show time and Raw just got into their second hour of the show. The fans were already up on their feet and as CM Punk's music started playing, the arena quickly filled with boos and that was how he liked it. He hated the fact that there were still people who cheered for him no matter how many despicable things he did. His mission was to make the fans hate him and every time he caught a glimpse of a CM Punk sign, he felt like he failed every time.

He made his way down the ramp holding his WWE Championship as high as he could above his head and he let everything sink in. He truly loved his job. He went up those three steps and up on the second turn buckle and shouted his famous, 'BEST IN THE WORLD!" line which cued into more booing. He got down and rested the championship on his shoulder and chest and got a microphone.

"Oh sure! Boo me, right? That's the easiest thing to do, huh? Let's cheer for John boy, but when it comes to me, you all decided to turn your backs on me!" He took one good look at the crowd and he knew that he was already firing them up. "Come on! I'm your WWE Champion! Show some damn respect! I've been champion for over a year now and the least you could do is bow at my feet. I've beaten everyone that stood in my way and yet that idiotic general manager AJ Lee, still believes that Mr. John Cena deserves another title shot! How many shots does this guy need? He tried and tried again but I have always proven that I am the best in the world and that's why," He lifted his belt up with one hand; "This is still right here."

"This is where it belongs! John Cena, I hope you're hearing me right now! How about you give up your title match and let's save ourselves some embarrassment of me beating you _again _for the hundredth time!"

The crowd started to chant 'You suck!" over and over again but as soon as John Cena's music hit everyone jumped out of their seat and started cheering. He made his routine of saluting the fans and throwing his shirt to one lucky person and he grabbed a microphone.

"Now listen to me Punk, no one cares of what you have to say! Why are you even out here complaining, Punk? Are you afraid of me finally getting the 1, 2, 3 count and eventually end up taking your prized possession? I may have lost in the past but I can guarantee that I'll pin you clean right in the middle of the ring at TLC!"

The fans were behind Cena right now and CM Punk took off his shirt and got in his opponent's face and before a fight could erupt, AJ's music blared throughout the speakers and the fans cheered even more.

"Stop it! Stop it right now!" she screamed into her mic as she made her way down the ramp and into the ring. "I've already told you," She gave Punk a look, and continued, "None of you should even put a finger on each other or both of you will be suspended! I don't want to end this into another brawl because somebody can get hurt!"

"Oh Madame General Manager, how nice of you to think of my well being! How about looking after me, _your_ WWE Champion at TLC, huh? There are going to be tables, ladders and chairs, what are you going to do if your champion gets seriously injured?!"

"I'm fully aware of what TLC stands for CM Punk, but that doesn't mean you're going to weasel out of it that easily."

"Weasel out! Like I ever weaseled out of anything in my life! I've worked hard to get to where I am and I, unlike others, don't just get handed things…" he turned to look at Cena, "especially because I'm the poster boy of the WWE."

"I work 7 days a week, I'm always out here to please each and every single member of the WWE Universe! I work hard and that's how I earn my title shots Punk, I work for them!"

"Oh good guy John, huh, always working his ass off to be in the main event, right?"

John Cena pushed Punk which made him land on his behind.

"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" AJ screamed into the microphone and got in between them.

"This is how you let your champion get treated? What sort of general manager are you?!" Punk yelled even more as he got up and dusted off his rear end. He got into her face and he stared down at those beautiful hazel eyes of hers. She _has _to make eye contact with me now, he thought to himself.

She looked up into his big, green eyes and gulped. _Business, business, business,_ the voice in her head kept repeating like a broken record. She knew that she was about to plant one on him soon and she cleared her mind from her personal thoughts and continued.

"Punk, I'm doing the best that I can to give the WWE Universe what they want."

"Well what about what I want! This title match is absurd! Why can't you listen to what I want for once, huh? I'm the WWE Champion, I should make some of the decisions myself around here because clearly you're not doing a good job now, are you? Why in the world did they put you in charge? You're a nobody AJ, always been and still is. What the hell do you know about managing?"

"I suggest you control your temper…"

"Or what?"

"This." She took one good look at him and before Punk could even see it, AJ Lee slapped the arrogance right off his face as hard as she could. She flashed him her pearly white teeth and started to laugh in his face. There was no way that slap was scripted, he thought to himself. He rubbed his now red cheek and for a second there he wasn't CM Punk the heel, but he was the real CM Punk and he knew that that was payback for what he did to her.

"Really, AJ? You're going to put your hands on your talent now? Oh let's see how you'll manage to run RAW next week without its champion! Face it AJ, you're nothing without me, you need me to run the show and I prove it to you every damn week. Why are you always out to get me, AJ?"

"I treat each and every superstar the same Punk, and you're no exception."

"No, no, no, no I am an exception because if that was the case, me and you wouldn't be standing right here right now and my cheek wouldn't have your hand print on it. There's more to this story because if Mr. Cena boy was champion, you would have never put him in a TLC match but oh no, CM Punk has to go through a table just to prove to you that I am the greatest champion of all time!"

"You know what Punk? Ever since I became GM, you have consistently been breathing down my neck more than the board of directors and why, huh? Why do you always think that I'm against you, Punk you are a great champion but it seems like you don't even believe it yourself and quite frankly, I thought I was trying to slap some sense into you but clearly that didn't work."

"Cancel the TLC match."

"That will _not_ be happening."

"Cancel the match!"

"NO! Punk for the last time, the match is still on!"

Punk groaned in frustration and threw his championship on the mat. He started arguing with AJ but he didn't put the mic in front of his mouth, so nobody could hear them. He was pointing a finger at her and the vein in his neck was seconds away from exploding.

"Alright, alright!" AJ finally caved in to stop Punk from bickering. _This was it_. She looked up to her fans one last time as if she was saying goodbye and breathed into the mic. She pushed some of her brunette locks behind her ear and opened her mouth, "John…" she spun on her heel to face John Cena, "Don't you think it's a bit unfair that you had multiple opportunities to get the gold and you failed every time? How about you take a back seat for once, you know go on, relax and chill a bit and let's have ourselves a battle royal tonight to determine who will be facing Punk next!"

"What?! That's crazy! AJ, don't do this to me!" John yelled in the microphone.

"Sorry John, but Punk raised a great point. Guess you're at the back of the line and don't worry you can have the rest of the night off because you're not in the battle royal either!"

Punk grinned like a little kid as he watched his former opponent panic with what he was hearing from the general manager. He pointed at him and started laughing at John Cena who was seconds away from pulling his hair out.

"Wow…" AJ turned around and gave CM Punk an evil smile, "I can't believe this just happened, are you serious AJ? Is this… is this for real?" She gave him a little nod and stepped closer to CM Punk, closing in on the gap they had between them.

"AJ, don't do it! Don't fall for his ways; he's going to use you for his own advantage!" John reached out to AJ Lee, trying to save her from the trap he thought she was going to fall into.

"As your general manager, I command you to shut up and show some respect for your champion." She clasped a hand on her mouth, amazed at what she had just told the poster boy of the WWE. Punk's facial expression was priceless and without hesitation he put his hands around AJ's shoulder and kissed her head.

"AJ, I didn't even know you had it in you!"

"I've always got new tricks up my sleeve." She said as she happily adjusted her blazer. She winked at him and blew him a kiss with her free hand and then dropped her mic. Her music hit and she stepped out of the ring and started skipping up the ramp.

She then suddenly felt someone run after her but she kept on going and she soon felt a pair of hands on her hips that spun her around. She met with Punk's face that was already sweaty with all the bright lights and she looked up into his eyes. He took a moment to look at her and he gulped. The crowd was now chanting Daniel Bryan's 'No!' chant but the sound of her fast heartbeat quickly drowned them out. He ran a hand through her hair as if he was really looking at her for the first time and he grabbed her from the back of her head and pulled her in for a rough kiss to make the heel turn official. She wrapped her little fingers around his neck and he lifted her up.

_This was familiar._

She wrapped her legs around his waist and he started walking slowly up the ramp, lips still attached together. The crowd was furious now that the GM turned her back against them and they stopped to look at their angry faces before they headed backstage.

Punk took one look at AJ and she buried her face in the crook of his neck. He kissed her forehead and she just smiled like a little girl, trying to hide her shy face. Maybe being a heel wasn't such a bad thing after all. He yelled his signature line again and then they both went backstage.


	11. Chapter 11

The second they got backstage AJ slipped out of CM Punk's grasp and adjusted her clothes. He had a look of disappointment on his face and she did her best to try to ignore it in order to avoid interaction with the WWE Champion. CM Punk was no longer her concern as far as she knew.

"Great promo, you guys. AJ, you killed it!" the director said, holding a rolled up script in his hand. He was really happy that she pulled it off like a natural and he knew that Vince McMahon was smiling somewhere in the building.

"Thanks." She gave the director a small nod and she started to make her way to her dressing room.

"Whoa, wait, that's it?" Punk quickly went after her and grabbed her from her arm.

"Get your hands off me!" She jerked her hand away and started walking, "I told you, I don't want anything to do with you. What part of it can't you understand?"

"All of it, AJ. That promo was intense and I know you weren't faking that kiss." He was walking after her like a lost puppy. They were getting some stares from the people that were backstage but he couldn't care less.

She took a deep breath and stopped, "I'm sorry Punk. I'm sorry that you can't tell between real life and fantasy. I was just doing my job. Now leave me be." She tried to push the whole kiss thing to the back of her head, ignoring the fact that she could still taste his spit on her lips. She had no feelings for CM Punk. AJ started fast walking again but that didn't make her former lover give up on his quest.

"AJ, I really need to tell you something but you're not giving me the chance."

"Tell me exactly what?"

"I can't do it right here where there are people watching!"

"Well that's too bad."

He kept following her, trying his best to make the little diva listen to him but she just wouldn't have it. He thought about grabbing her from her shoulders and pushing her against the wall but that would almost seem like sexual harassment. She took a left turn to where the diva's locker room was and to her surprise there was the last man she ever wanted to see waiting for her arrival.

"Well, well, well. Isn't this nice! Punk, AJ… you do realize that the cameras have stopped rolling right?"

Daniel Bryan was resting on his left shoulder against the wall. He had a smug look on his face as if he just caught AJ red handed. He was patiently waiting for her to come back to the locker room, ready to confront her about that kiss and now that she was with CM Punk, it felt like he was killing two birds with one stone.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Punk's face was red already with anger and he balled up his fists ready to punch him in the nose.

"Easy now, Punk. Stop being aggressive in front of your woman." Daniel Bryan sarcastically said putting his hands up in surrender.

"I'm not anybody's woman, Daniel and what the hell are you doing here? You forgot the part where you threw me out of our hotel room, or?"

She felt brave that she was finally standing up to her former boyfriend. Daniel Bryan meant nothing to her now and she was no longer under his power. She thought about getting in his face, telling him everything that she ever wanted to tell him but he wasn't even worth the trouble. She felt like kissing Punk in front of him to make his blood boil but she was still mad at the straight edge superstar as well. Come to think of it, none of these two gentlemen deserved her time, because both of them have hurt her in the past.

"I kicked you out because I knew you weren't being faithful, AJ."

"You have no fucking proof!"

"You don't deny it, don't you?"

"Don't twist my words!"

"I'll tell you what I'm going to twist, Daniel. It's your neck, if you don't shut up and leave." Punk grabbed AJ's hand and moved her close to him. "I don't care about your business between you and AJ, but it seems that she doesn't want to do anything with you, so I suggest you start being a man, and leave her in peace."

"Of course you don't care about our business! There was no business because she was always with you!"

"That's not true." AJ interfered, "Daniel, stop accusing me of something I didn't do!" She wanted to tell him about those steamy sessions she had with CM Punk, but she knew that fists would be flying as soon as she opened her mouth and she didn't want them to fight over her… even though it seemed sort of cool.

Daniel kept eyeing them from top to bottom, waiting for one of them to crack. He noticed how great AJ looked right next to CM Punk, as if they were two joined puzzle pieces in a wonderful picture and yet Daniel and her never quite fit properly. They never did and this made his heart fill with envy.

"You don't have to hide AJ, I know." He said under his breath, and he bit his lip looking at the petite diva in sadness.

AJ was startled and she looked up to Punk panicking. He remained cool and just shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't ready to let the cat out of the bag because Daniel might be tricking them into getting out the truth by accident.

"You know, sometimes you just don't know who your friends really are, am I right Punk? We used to be pals, and you AJ, you always found comfort in telling Kaitlyn everything…"

AJ raised her eyebrows, "Where are you going with this?"

"Let's just say that you are a better liar than Kaitlyn." He gave AJ a wink and out of nowhere he punched CM Punk square in the jaw. AJ screamed in horror and she knelt down right next to Punk who had his hand clasped on his mouth in agony. "That's for fucking my girlfriend, you piece of shit!"

Daniel looked at the pathetic couple and he laughed out loud. They deserved each other, and he was glad that he kicked her out and got rid of her for good. AJ was screaming for help and the door of the diva's locker room suddenly opened and 5 pretty little heads peeped out to see what was the ruckus all about.

"Your girlfriend came to me, you ignorant son of a bitch!" Punk shot up and tackled Daniel to the concrete floor. He was throwing punches, left and right and anywhere he could get his hands on. AJ was crying hysterically and frantically shrieking at the top of her lungs for both men to stop but they ignored her.

Soon a lot of other staff members and superstars came rushing to see what was going on and Wade, Kofi, Zack and Sheamus managed to break the fight up. Sheamus pulled Punk off Daniel and he moved him far away from Daniel who was still lying on the floor surrounded by the other superstars. Sheamus stood in his way and kept telling him to calm down but he ignored him. He looked at AJ who had eyeliner running because she was still crying and he suddenly felt horrible. He looked at his hands and they were covered in blood. He must've broken Daniel's nose and now guilt was consuming him.

"What have I done."

"Easy now, fella."

"No! AJ!"

"Get away from me!" She cried and all the divas gathered around her consoling her. They all glared at Punk and he looked at everybody who was staring at him. "Stop fucking judging me, he punched me first!" There were a lot of gasps in the background and Daniel was finally up on his feet with the aid of Wade and Zack. His nose was busted and he had blood dripping from it.

"Come on AJ, let's go inside." Eve said as she put her hand around AJ's shoulders and led her into the locker room. The rest of the divas followed.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, this was sure not going to end well. He could already see himself on the suspended page on the WWE website and he didn't even want to think about what Vince is going to say, or yell, at him when word gets out.

He is the WWE Champion, and champions don't act like this.

"You're going to pay for this, I swear to God…" Daniel said between coughs and Punk just shook his head. Daniel just didn't get it and he never would. Medics finally came and started to clean his busted face. There was no reason for Punk to stay at the scene so he decided to leave before something else could happen.

Kaitlyn bursted through the locker room door as soon as she heard what just went down minutes before and found AJ curled up in ball crying her eyes out. All of the divas tried to calm little AJ down but it was all for nothing.

"AJ honey, are you okay?!" Kaitlyn was out of breath and she managed to include herself into the circle of concerned divas.

"You! Why did you tell Daniel! Out of all people, Kaitlyn. I trusted you!" She kept pointing at her best friend with her index finger accusing her of opening her mouth to the man who made AJ's life a living hell.

"You don't understand, he _made _me tell him! AJ, please!"

"What? Are you trying to justify your actions? Because if that's the case, save it. I can't trust anybody now." She wiped away her face with the back of her hand, ignoring the fact that every single diva of the WWE was witnessing some drama going down.

"AJ, please! He threatened to hurt Ziggler! He already knew that you were up to no good and if he couldn't hear it from you, he turned to the closest source!" Kaitlyn tried to reason with her but AJ just shook her head, ignoring what was coming out of her mouth.

"You were my best friend Kaitlyn; I'd never thought you would be the one to rat me out!"

"Well if you didn't go and fuck Punk behind Bryan's back, none of this would have happened! Save it AJ, I can't believe you're turning against me when I tried to help you!"

The divas had their mouths open in shock as to what they were hearing. None of them could have guessed what an exciting life AJ was leading and some of them were even jealous that she got to CM Punk before they did. Nonetheless, AJ was living a lie and they couldn't believe that small, quiet AJ was capable of doing such things.

"Does this look like helping? Daniel's nose is fucking broken and CM Punk is fucking losing it, hell, I'm losing it!"

"AJ, I don't want to be the bearer of bad news but you had what was coming for you. Daniel Bryan is an asshole but I don't think he deserved to be cheated on. CM Punk is head over heels for you and you're always giving him the cold shoulder. Face it AJ, you don't love anybody, you just like the attention." Kaitlyn looked down at her broken down friend in disgust and she just shook her head in disappointment. "Sort yourself out, will ya?" And she turned around and left, slamming the door right behind her leaving her former best friend in her own misery.

The following weeks were filled with dread as CM Punk looked at his cell phone for the millionth time. Vince McMahon hadn't called yet or didn't even acknowledge what went down between Daniel Bryan and himself and here he was on a Monday night looking at his championship title.

All he could do was think about AJ and nothing else. She did her best to avoid him backstage and their on screen kisses were becoming more and more forced and awkward. He wanted to end the whole AJ/Punk love train but that was only up to the creative team to decide that and so he had to go out there and exchange spit whether he liked it or not.

It was another unbearable Monday Night Raw and they had to do another segment much to their dislike. They were both sitting down on a crate waiting for their cue near the curtain. He wanted to tell her he was sorry but it was best if he didn't mention the altercation at all. He noticed how quiet she had become throughout the weeks and she wasn't looking good at all, both physically and mentally. She had lost Daniel, Punk and now Kaitlyn too and she was inches away of suffering from some sort of a depression and he felt responsible for some of it.

"You guys are up in a minute!" a guy wearing a headset told them. "Come on! Get up, stop looking like someone died!"

AJ and Punk got up and forced a smile. "Yeah, that's not convincing at all. Just hope you don't do that out there, ok?"

"Sure thing." Punk nodded as he looked down at AJ. She kept on playing with her fingers while staring at the ground.

"AJ, I know that everything has ended between me and you," he said in a hopeless tone, "…but at least let's pretend we're having fun, okay?"

"I think I'm done with pretending for now."

"AJ, it was bound to happen and you know it."

"But not like that. Anything but that!"

It was the first time AJ was mentioning the whole fiasco and he was a bit glad that she was finally speaking to him. She kept her gaze on the dirty floor as she played the whole scene in her head again.

He looked down at his wrestling boots and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry for everything, AJ. Not just for breaking Daniel's nose, but for everything that has happened from the very first night, up to now. You don't deserve this much heartbreak and I wish you could have someone who will treat you the way you deserve to be treated."

She looked up to him with tears in her eyes and managed to curl her lips into a weak smile, "I don't want to go out there with my makeup running."

"Not the makeup!" he said raising his arms and making a face.

"Stop it!"She hit his arm and chuckled a bit. This was the AJ he loved. He got so used to seeing her in pain that he almost forgot how cute she was when she showed him her pearly white teeth in a beautiful smile that only dentists could be proud of.

"Let's go out there and kill it?" He opened his arms waiting for a hug but she extended out her hand for him to shake. He looked down at her hand and she bit her lip, "It's better like this…"

He cleared his throat and put his arms down, "Uh, yeah." He took her hand and awkwardly shook it. She could see the disappointment in his eyes but she didn't want to go down any roads with Punk anymore and it was best to keep everything like it should have been in the first place, strictly business.

"You guys are on!" the same guy yelled at them and CM Punk's music was blasting into the arena.

"Ready?" CM Punk took her hand and laced his fingers with hers. She nodded and put on her evil look and said, "Let's kill it."

They hit the ramp and as soon as they got into the ring, they both took a microphone in their hands and Punk started doing his disrespect routine and dissing the local football team to gain some cheap heat.

"I walk out here every single week for your lazy asses and I get no respect. I have to go through unimaginable pain and you still show the WWE Champion disrespect. You should be thankful that I am your champion and not some wannabe who thinks that nobody can see him. Uh, newsflash buddy, I can see you and I can also see yesterday's match and how I beat you _again _for this." He lifted up his championship title.

The crowd started chanting 'You Suck' and Punk was getting furious. He was bringing the microphone right to his mouth again and AJ was there to quickly place her hand on it to stop him. "Let me do this, honey." He ran a hand through her silky hair and gave her a peck on the lips.

"CM Punk is a great man… and a great boyfriend." She looked at him with a grin on her face, "He's been your reigning and defending champion for over a year now, and let's face it, this man isn't going anywhere. He truly is the best in the world and I am so sorry that you can't see that."

"Thanks AJ, but don't waste your time on these people. This should be about us and we should celebrate my success after I beat Kane." He got closer to AJ and she looked up to those green eyes of his. They both dropped their microphones simultaneously, and AJ suddenly got nervous of what was coming next, even though they had been locking lips for the past month or so._ It will be over soon_, she thought to herself and she just went on with it.

She ran her hands up his arms and circled his neck, waiting for him to put his hands on her behind and lift her up. A second later, her legs were wrapped around his waist and they were both gazing into each others eyes while resting her forehead on his. He pushed some of her hair behind her ear with one hand and smiled, "I love you, AJ."

She was taken a bit aback, unsure of whether he was breaking character or not but her grin got wider and she leaned in for a hot passionate kiss. This time it wasn't awkward or tense, it was like she was truly kissing him for the first time. Both of them parted their lips even more, letting one another know that they can explore if they wanted to. The arena was bursting with boo's but neither Punk or AJ could hear a thing as their tongues were in each others mouths.

AJ finally pulled out from the kiss and looked into CM Punk's eyes. This was definitely not scripted. "I have something to tell you after the match." He whispered into her ear and she pretended to giggle and squeal as if he just told her something sweet.

All AJ could do was worry over what Punk told her. What exactly did he want to tell her? There was nothing left to discuss and she thought that they settled everything before they came out. She kept on hitting the mat with her hand, cheering Punk on as he went against the big red monster. Her head wasn't in the game and she kept on zoning in and out as her mind kept on wandering trying to figure out what he meant.

After 10 minutes of going back and forth, CM Punk got the win and AJ climbed back into the ring to celebrate with her on-screen boyfriend. "Are you okay?" he whispered into her ear and she nodded unconvincingly. They celebrated his victory and the minute they got backstage, she didn't think twice about asking him.

"I don't want to do it here, AJ." He said still catching his breath. He was handed a small, white towel and some bottled water which he quickly downed in one gulp.

"You got me freaking out, Punk don't do this to me!" she started to panic and her breath was getting short.

He grabbed her from the shoulders, "AJ, calm down. It's nothing to worry about, trust me." He kissed her forehead and continued, "I'm going to take a shower now, meet me in an hour in my locker room."

"Why can't you tell me now?"

"Because there are people watching and I don't want to give them something else to talk about. See ya."

An hour later she found herself in front of CM Punk's door. Every time she was there, it never ended well and she hoped that she might break the combo this time. She knocked three times and it didn't take long for Punk to answer it. The smell of soap and cologne filled her nostrils and she melted a bit inside. She was a sucker for his scent.

"Come in." Punk said. He grabbed a towel in his hands and started to dry his hair off.

"Well?" She didn't plan on staying too long because that might raise suspicion from the other superstars and since the whole Daniel Bryan incident was still making headlines in the backstage gossiping, she didn't want them to think that she was spending an awful lot of time in Punk's room.

"Okay," he said putting the towel down. He walked over to AJ Lee and took her hands in his. She was ready to jerk them away but he quickly added, "Please. Hear me out."

"…Alright." She looked at his tattooed hands and admired how her small hands fit perfectly into his.

"This isn't me trying to win you back, but after what went down, AJ, I think it's time to tell you. I love you with all my heart and I know that we're not meant to be. We've been through so much shit that I know you're absolutely done with me. I've been trying to find the right moment to tell you this and it never came up to now and I have decided to take matters into my own hands and that's what I should have done ages ago."

"Where are you going with this, Punk?" She said with furrowed brows.

"I told her, AJ. I told Lita about what we did."

AJ clasped a hand to her mouth, "Oh my god…"

"It wasn't fair that I was sort of playing you two, and it was best to have neither of you than to break both of your hearts at the same time. AJ, you'll always have a special place in my heart and I hope you realize that I have loved you more than I ever loved Lita."

She gulped the lump that formed in her throat as he said those words. "How did she take it?" She tried to avoid eye contact or else she might burst out crying again. Punk telling her that he loved her more than Lita was upsetting. She wasn't capable of hearing such a thing and accept it. Lita must have been heartbroken.

"It went… better than expected." He nodded, as he caressed her hands with his thumbs. She bit her lip and started to sniffle. "AJ, are you okay?"

"…No." she managed to utter and without hesitation he pulled her in for a hug and this time she didn't protest but she let it all out against his chest. "Shhh." He cooed into her ears as he stroked her luscious hair with his hands.

"Why can't we be together without causing so much trouble?" Her voice was muffled and he could barely hear her but he smiled in agreement. "Life's a bitch I guess, my love."

_My love. _

Her heart melted even more and of course, more salty tears were soaking up Punk's shirt which was currently serving as a tissue for AJ Lee.

"How do we make this work, Punk?" she looked up to him and he wiped her face.

"We don't. You deserve so much better AJ and you know it." He started caressing her face with the back of his hand and she closed her eyes.

"But it's you who I want to be with."

"You know when I said 'I love you' in the ring, I meant it, right? That was me talking, not the heel Punk. I was trying to see the look on your face."

"You caught me off guard there and my head was screaming at me that I was on live TV so I had to act quickly. But just so you know Punk, I love you too."

He gave her a warm smile and he was overjoyed that she still returned the same feelings for him after all that they've been through. He placed two fingers under her chin and said, "Can I?"

She slowly nodded and CM Punk gently leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips. She wasn't satisfied with the small peck, and before Punk could break the kiss, she caught his face in her hands to give him a real kiss. He grabbed her from her waist and pulled her closely as possible and lifted her up. She missed that cold feeling of his lip ring and she ran her tongue over it. That tingling sensation in her tummy was coming back as he lightly nibbled at her bottom lip and planted small kisses down her neck. It was ridiculous how easily they turned each other on.

"You know how this always ended badly, Punk…" AJ reminded him out of breath.

"I know." Without protest, he slowly put her down with ease and looked down at the woman he wasn't destined to be with. He coughed, choking back tears, trying not to look like a weak man in front of her. After a moment of silence he said, "Friends?" He didn't want to say it but he had to.

She reluctantly nodded and gulped. The little diva hated it but she knew that it was the right thing to do. Both of them being together had hurt many people and destroyed relationships and even though they finally set their differences aside, it wasn't the right time to be together. Two wrongs don't make a right.

He hugged her again, holding her tight in his tattooed arms not ready to let her go, both physically and emotionally. "Just know this; I'll always be here for you AJ, if you need anything, I promise, I'll be there."

"I love you, Punk." Her chin was trembling and her eyes were welling up with tears again. She felt like they were both saying goodbye to each other and every second that passed, it felt like the door was slowly closing more and more.

"I love you too." He kissed her head and stroked her back. He vowed to himself that he would always be there to protect AJ whenever he could and no one was going to hurt her like Daniel Bryan and he did. Punk was madly in love with the girl, but it wasn't the right time or the right place for their romance to blossom and he had to accept that but neither of them knew what the future held for them.

"So I guess this is goodbye?" she said in his chest.

"Let's make it more of a, see you around. What do you think?" He looked down at AJ, and she lifted her head up resting her chin on his chest.

"I'll be seeing you, Punk." She gave him a small smile and closed her eyes. She felt his lips on her forehead and for the very first time, AJ was happy.

* * *

**The End?** **I did my best to keep it real as I could because I didn't want to write a story with a fairytale ending. Things like these happen in real life, and you can't always get what you want. Anyways, I'm not sure if this is the end or not, (I already have ideas for the next chapter) but like I said, not sure! Let me know what you think and I want to thank all of you for the reviews and messages! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Guess who's back? Back again!**

* * *

"So it really is over, huh?" Kofi said as he poured some coffee into his Christmas themed mug.

"Yup." Punk was trying to push his feelings away as he played a game on his phone, trying to distract himself. He didn't want to think about it too much or else he might start crying and that was something he definitely didn't want to do, especially in front of Kofi Kingston.

"And how are you coping with this? You love the girl." Kofi knew that things weren't going to end Punk hoped they would, but he never did or say anything to discourage his friend. It was something inevitable and he promised himself that when the time came, he would be there to support his road buddy.

"Kofi, stop reminding me, please. It's better this way. Try not to mention her name so often; I may be an asshole but that girl..." Punk bit his fist and groaned in frustration, he just lost his game.

"That girl managed to take away your heart that no one ever thought existed." His friend added matter-o-factly. Punk's head shot up and glared at him. This was something that he definitely didn't want to hear.

Punk knew that their final decision to be friends was ultimately the best one. There weren't any more problems, no more fights and hopefully it was the end for the tears as well. He might be sad now, but at least he knew that by time his wound will heal and he could start being himself again.

"Can we just…" Punk waved his hand in the air, "Stop it, Kofi. She's my friend and that's it. I said I'll protect her but that is all. It's over."

"Whatever you say man." And he took a big gulp of hot coffee and slowly shook his head at Punk who was still troubled over the little girl.

AJ stepped on the porch where Kaitlyn lived. She wanted to apologize for her actions, and the way she accused her of doing something that wasn't intentional. It had been a couple of weeks since their confrontation and living without her was killing her apart. Throughout everything, it was Kaitlyn that was always there for her and nobody else, and to do that to her was just plain stupid and selfish.

It was the best way to do it during her time off where she had no worries about catching a plane or getting to the arena on time. She had been contemplating, going back and forth as to how she was going to even start apologizing to Kaitlyn, but then she decided that the best way is to let it all out freely without over thinking it too much. Her hands were trembling and her stomach was aching, all because she was afraid of rejection, but then she thought that at least she had tried and that was up to Kaitlyn whether she accepted her apology or not.

She readjusted her hair and rang the door bell. It took Kaitlyn about a minute to answer the door and she wasn't exactly prepared to see the little diva on her porch when she caught her first glimpse of AJ.

"What are you doing here?" Kaitlyn raised her eyebrow. It was her time off and she always preferred to do something she enjoyed rather than seeing someone who was from work, even though they had been best friends since high school.

"Kate, I uh, came to say, I'm sorry for what I did to you back there." AJ didn't take time to beat around the bush and went straight to the point. It was hard for her to say it, but she felt like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders when she finally spat it out.

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

"I shouldn't have done that and I was still in shock and I didn't know what I was doing. If you don't want to be friends anymore, I understand but at least my conscious is clear now." AJ pushed some of her hair behind her ear and bit her lip. She was waiting for her ex-best friend to reply, and she was desperately hoping that she wouldn't slam the door right in her face.

Kaitlyn took one good look at AJ and she knew that she was being sincere. She had missed her best friend despite the fact that she had hurt her, but she never once stopped thinking about her and her struggle with the CM Punk issue. "Come inside."

AJ followed Kaitlyn right into her cozy home which had a nice smell of lavender. Kaitlyn loved to make a house a home and she finally achieved her goal despite being only there about 2 days a week, if at all. They both sat on the leather couch and Kaitlyn offered her a drink to which AJ politely declined.

"I never got to fully explain what happened and it was wrong on my part that I didn't tell you as soon as it happened." She started to play with the ring Dolph Ziggler gave her. They were very serious about their relationship. "I was staying at some hotel and Daniel managed to track me down, I don't even know how but whatever."

AJ listened closely as she finally got to find out what exactly happened.

"He banged on my door and my initial reaction was not to open it, but Ziggler went ahead and opened it himself. Of course he didn't listen to me and Daniel barged into our room asking for you. We told him we didn't know and he started to accuse me of hiding and lying for you and that he knew you were off somewhere with somebody else."

"Really?! Kate, you could have called the police or something." AJ's eyes were wide open and she was embarrassed for Daniel and the fact that she actually dated that maniac.

"I forgot what he said then but he kept pointing his finger at me and yelling at my face and that's where Ziggler got in the way and tried to calm him down. He grabbed him from his shirt and pushed him against a wall, and I was _beyond_ freaking out at that point. Anyways, he threatened me that he'll actually kill him if I didn't say where you were, can you believe that crazy lunatic? And I don't know if he was serious or not, but I wasn't willing to risk it so I told him."

"Jesus…" AJ placed a hand on her mouth in disbelief. "I knew he was a bit off his rocker but not like this. I'm so sorry Kaitlyn; that must've been horrible, I don't blame you; in fact you did the right thing."

"I didn't have any other choice, AJ and I know you really didn't mean what you said but I was so mad, I eventually snapped and that was it. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me the most." Kaitlyn gave her a sympathetic smile and rubbed AJ's back.

"It's okay now, don't worry. Punk and I decided to be friends so there's no drama anymore hopefully, though you can never be so sure when Daniel's around." AJ shrugged her shoulders and shuddered when she imagined how Daniel would have threatened Dolph to kill him. It was crazy.

"I think its best if you didn't date someone from the wrestling world, honey, these boys are nothing but trouble!" Kaitlyn stated as she elbowed her friend and winked at her.

"Says the girl who is dating a wrestler herself!"

"We're not talking about me anymore!" Kaitlyn arched her eyebrows and wiggled them up and down.

"Yeah sure thing, Kaitlyn." AJ shook her head laughing. She was glad that they were mending their relationship and even though she wanted the confirmation, she decided that her eyebrow dance was proof enough.

"So it's really over with you and Punk, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm still not over it, but hopefully by time I'll learn to live with it. It's been about a month or two now so yeah, we're still doing the whole AJ/Punk thing on RAW but we've decided to keep the kissing to a minimum until the storyline ends."

Kaitlyn was eying AJ up and down, examining her facial expressions and body movements for any signs of cracking but AJ seemed pleased as punch. "But you're alright?" The two toned blond bombshell wasn't having it, AJ was head over heels for the guy and nothing was adding up.

"Yup, I'm A-OK." AJ nodded and smiled at her friend like a little girl. She knew that Kaitlyn wasn't convinced but there was no point in trying according to AJ. She had nothing to prove to anyone, and all she cared about was for herself and her well being.

* * *

It was another grueling Monday Night Raw and AJ had a match against Layla, to which she lost to. There was Punk on commentary, putting over AJ as much as he could and kept on reminding the WWE Universe how obsessively he was in love with her, while holding the WWE championship closely to his chest.

She was hanging around in the locker room area in her normal clothes after she took a hot steaming shower. All of the divas were in front of the mirrors, doing their hair and makeup and she was confused as to why they were getting dolled up even though the show was almost about to end.

She sat on the bench reading a comic book and from time to time, she would look up to see them still hogging the mirror, trying to paint their eyes or lips. She shook her head and flipped the page. The light somehow got darker and AJ looked up again from her glasses to see a smiling Eve right in front of her.

"So sorry to disturb you, AJ, but me and the gals decided to go out for drinks tonight, and we thought we should ask you too!"

_Well it was about damn time._

"It's funny because you're all set and done and I'm still in my jeans and t-shirt. I'll pass, Eve. Thanks anyways." AJ wasn't in the mood for a bitch fight but she felt like slapping those teeth right out of her mouth. She couldn't believe that she was being this aggressive with Eve but she couldn't help it.

"Well we didn't think you'd join us, you never do, AJ." She re-adjusted her pink mini dress and tossed some curls over her shoulder.

"Look Eve, I don't feel like going out tonight but thanks for the invite." The little diva gave her a fake smile and went to her comic book again.

"You know…" Eve couldn't take a hint, "all the other guys are going to be there, including Punk."

"Was this some party I wasn't invited to or what?" AJ slammed the book on her lap and gave Eve a questioning look. Punk's name didn't even have an effect on her and she was a bit annoyed that she had the audacity to mention him to tick her off.

Eve gulped and tried her hardest not to break, "I, uh, thought Punk invited you?"

"Nobody invited me to anything, and I'm glad I'm not going because clearly nobody wanted me to be there in the first place." Her hand gestures were going all over the place as she tried to figure out as to why nobody even mentioned _anything _about a party.

"So you and Punk are no longer… close?" Eve was carefully choosing her words so she wouldn't set the little diva off. She bit her lip as she waited anxiously for AJ's answer. AJ suddenly realized that Eve had something else on her mind, and not just the party.

"No, what's it to you?" AJ suddenly got up and came face to face with Eve.

"Oh not to me…" she said faking a laugh, "It's just that, ever since Punk became available, every diva is waiting in line, hoping he'll set his eyes on one of us." She winked at AJ and said under her breath, "I just hope it's me!" She looked at the other divas to see if they heard her but they were still putting their finishing touches on their eye shadow.

AJ couldn't help but be furious with the current diva's champ. It wasn't because she was trying to get closer to Punk, but it was the way the divas were treating him like a piece of meat and boy they sure were hungry. "Look, Punk and I are just friends. If it doesn't work out, don't come crying to me." AJ knew how difficult Punk was, he wasn't like other guys, Punk was... well, Punk and no one could ever change him. She actually was curious as to how things were going to go down; and she wanted to have a front row seat to this train wreck.

Eve's eyes seemed to glimmer with happiness and she squeezed AJ into a hug. "So you give me your blessings?!"

"What am I, your mom?" AJ tried her best not to push Eve away and she just rolled her eyes at her.

"I don't know, I've been waiting to cease this moment almost for a year now and now that he's free, I feel like it's my time now." Eve clasped her hands together and took a deep breath.

"Whatever you say, Eve."

AJ decided she had enough of hearing about Eve's little mission and she slowly grabbed her belongings and went out as Eve continued to talk. "Hey, where are you going!" she heard her yell from inside and AJ shuddered as she went down the hall.

"Why aren't you dressed, little lady?" a familiar voice called from behind AJ and she quickly spun on her heel to see Kaitlyn with her hands on her hips.

"If you're referring to the party I wasn't invited to, then no, I'm not going."

Kaitlyn walked up to the furious girl, "I was about to come and tell you, I just got word about it and I'm just in time to get dressed… and so should you!" she grabbed AJ from her shoulders and shook her.

"Forget it, why do I want to go to a party where Eve is going to put the moves on Punk? NOT that I'm jealous! It's just that it's disgusting." AJ did her best to emphasize the fact that she wasn't interested in Punk anymore and she hoped that Kaitlyn got the message.

"Eve is going to do what?" Kaitlyn made a face as if she ate something sour, "Girl is delusional, I tell you."

"That's why I don't want to go."

"You know you're coming with me…"

"Is there any point of arguing with you?"

"Nope!" Kaitlyn grabbed AJ's hand and rushed both of them back into the locker room to get ready.

AJ and Kaitlyn arrived at the scene about 2 hours later in their taxi and they looked out of the window. "I can't believe this place is ours for the night. It looks amazing!"

"Yeah, I can't believe you dragged me here." AJ crossed her arms across her chest. She was wearing a little strapless black dress and though she thought she looked cute, she wasn't in the mood for the loud music and she was specifically not prepared to see Eve in Punk's arms also. She felt a knot in her stomach and she felt uneasy about everything.

"Oh stop being so grumpy, AJ! It's been what, two months now? What's in the past is in the past and you should start having fun again."

AJ started to play with the strap of her hand bag and she sighed, "What if I," she bit her lip, "What if I can't bear to see Punk and Eve together?" Throughout all this time, she kept reassuring herself that there was nothing left for CM Punk, but now that she was going to put her feelings to the test, she was scared.

"Don't worry love; I'll be there for you when it happens." Kaitlyn gave AJ a sympathetic hug and they both slipped out of the taxi and into the private night club.

The club was jam packed and all the superstars brought a couple of close friends of theirs or a date with them. Everyone looked so neat and sharp, especially the guys who she got used to seeing them always in their trunks and stinking of sweat.

The divas were already there because she could hear a lot of screaming coming from the dance floor and lots of camera flashes so they could update their Twitter accounts. The music was great and she realized that she might have made a fuss about nothing. She needed a night for herself; she had been through so much that she thought she might as well enjoy it while it lasted. Kaitlyn disappeared leaving AJ all alone and then re-appeared a mere 30 seconds later with two drinks in her hands.

"Come on, let's have some fun!" She handed AJ a glass and they both toasted and yelled, "Cheers!" together and they gulped it down in an instant.

"Oh my god, what the hell was that?" AJ said coughing.

"Don't worry; I didn't spike your drink, little missy!" She elbowed her friend and winked at her. "Let's dance!" She dragged her best friend onto the dance floor and Kaitlyn didn't need much to start busting some moves and she took AJ's hands and started yelling at her to dance.

"Hey, Punk I can't believe you've decided to drink!" Kofi slapped Punk on his back as he took a seat right next to him at the bar.

"It's actually Pepsi, but let's pretend it isn't." Punk looked over to Kofi and gave him a smile.

"It was a big turn out tonight. I didn't think this many people would show up, it being Monday and all."

"Well to be fair Kofi, I was forced to come here so."

"Those are minor details, my friend!" Kofi happily sipped his Jack and Coke and bobbed his head along with the beat of the music.

Eve was right across the dance floor where she first laid eyes on her crush. She was ecstatic that he actually came and she didn't want to miss the opportunity when it was staring right in her face. It was now or never. She chose the perfect dress for the occasion and she thought that CM Punk would drool the second he saw her, after all, the short dress hugged her figure quite perfectly and no man would say otherwise. Punk was different from all the guys she had met or dated and she saw him as a challenge that she wanted to overcome and hopefully he would be hers by the end of the night.

She studied Punk and his body language while he was talking to Kofi to see in what mood he was in. If he was in a bad mood, she could just give up and go home, but the second she saw him laugh, she knew that she was in luck. She slowly made her way through the crowd and pretended to casually sit right next to Punk next to the bar.

Punk turned to Eve and jokingly said, "Hey Steve."

"We're still doing that, Punk?" She raised him an eyebrow and laughed awkwardly. She was feeling a bit nervous with Kofi witnessing everything and she just wanted him to leave. It was getting a bit hard to do or say what she had rehearsed in her head for about 50 times, so she just went out with it and said, "Hey, wanna dance? I know you're all grumpy and what not, but you could use some cheering up." She remained calm and confident. A man loves a confident woman.

Punk couldn't believe his ears; Eve wanted to dance with _him_? She was wearing the most beautiful pink dress and he was just wearing some plain jeans and a leather jacket. He never thought about Eve that way and he was sure that she was only doing it without any other intentions so he shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't see why not. Come on."

Punk wasn't the dancing type, hell he wasn't into partying in the clubs type either but if he had to be there, he thought he might as well enjoy his time. A brief thought of AJ came across his mind and though he hadn't seen her yet, he had a very huge feeling that she was there somewhere roaming around. Those thoughts of AJ quickly disappeared when she grabbed his hands and placed them on her hips and she started to move along the beat. His male instincts kicked in and he was enjoying it more than he intended to. He tightened his grip around her and moved her closer against his body and she could feel his hot breath on her.

Mission _almost _accomplished.

The minute Kofi saw what was happening right in front of him he went right next to Kaitlyn who was also witnessing what was going on. "What the hell is she doing?"

"This isn't supposed to happen, Kofi. I don't know what went wrong. I thought everything was going according to plan!"

"Well as you can see, our plan didn't go so well now, did it?"

"Shut up. I'm just as disappointed as you are."

AJ was dancing alone unaware that across the room, there was her former lover with another woman. She had her eyes closed and followed the rhythm of the music as she forgot about everything that troubled her. She was thankful that Kaitlyn had brought her, she needed to get rid of some stress and this was a perfect way to do it.

"Now, why is it that a nice girl like you, is dancing all alone, huh?" She heard someone in her ear say and she opened her eyes and turned around to see Dean Ambrose looking as sharp as ever. Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink and she was thankful that he couldn't see her clearly with the colored lights.

Feeling cocky, she replied, "Well, _you're_ here aren't you?" There was no point in denying it, Dean was looking great in his black leather jacket and she wasn't going to let him slip through her little fingers. She flashed him a flirty smile and she bit her bottom lip. He took one good look at her and he couldn't believe how gorgeous she was in her little black dress. He got so used to her skipping around wearing jeans and chucks that he felt like he was meeting her for the very first time.

He pretended to rub his chin with his thumb and index finger as if he was thinking hard and said, "True, but I'll only stay if you want me too."

She tucked some hair behind her ear and looked shyly at her shoes, "Well, you ain't going anywhere now." She snaked her hands around his neck and he pulled her closer. She liked how his hands were resting on her small hips, and she actually felt quite comfortable in his arms. She had always treated Dean like any other superstar, but tonight he looked like the guy that just might sweep her off her feet.

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**I hope you all realize that this means there will be more chapters to come! :)**


	13. Chapter 13

AJ got inside her hotel room and stumbled across in the dark. She tried her best not to make any sounds, because she was staying with Kaitlyn for the weekend and she was already fast asleep. She still couldn't wipe away the huge smile she had on her face and although it was 3 AM, she had no signs of tiredness and exhaustion. She wanted to spend the night with Dean but they had previously agreed on taking things slow. She would be lying if she said she wasn't in favor of this idea, but tonight she wanted to jump his bones like a hungry hyena, and so did he for that matter.

Her feet were aching, and she kicked off her new ballerina flats off and hoped they didn't hit anything to cause a noise. It had been a month since they've started going out and although neither of them confirmed it, they were sort of dating to a certain extent. She liked Dean, _a lot_ but she did her best not to get overly attached to the guy in order to avoid any drama and tears. If he wanted to leave her, then so be it and she was okay with that. And of course, their so called relationship was made public and everybody knew they had a thing for each other and AJ liked it like that. There were no secret meetings, and no more people getting hurt and everything was truly amazing with this guy.

Dean had taken her out for some ice cream and they went to eat it on a bridge in this park he knew about. She had never been there and Dean claimed that he used to go there to think when he lived around the area for a short period of time. The park was empty and a bit abandoned judging by the vandalized benches and graffiti. And even though it was a bit windy, they still enjoyed their chocolatey goodness. They huddled together for warmth and he even gave her his jacket that smelled just like him. The place had an eerie feeling to it, but she always felt protected and safe with Dean around.

She smiled as she recalled everything in her head and without realizing she turned on the lights to find Kaitlyn sitting on her bed waiting for her arrival. AJ yelped and jumped a few feet back, "JESUS! You scared me, Kate!" She clutched her hand on her chest.

"Where were you, little missy? " Kaitlyn wasn't amused and she got out of bed wearing her Hello Kitty onesie. She crossed her hands on her chest and frowned at the petite diva.

"For your information, I went out with Dean for some ice-cream." AJ looked away to break away the eye contact she had with Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn's eyes were practically shooting daggers if they could. Kaitlyn was pretty vocal on AJ and Dean's relationship and she wasn't fond of it very much. She still believed that Punk was the right man for her and Dean was just getting in the way of her plan. She had tried so hard to get both of them back together but it seemed like the more she had tried, the more it looked impossible. It had become a somewhat obsession of hers to be AJ's cupid and she wasn't giving up just yet.

"Eating ice-cream should take about 10 minutes, AJ. It's 3AM and you were out doing only God knows with Dean!" Kaitlyn followed AJ to the bathroom where she started to take her makeup off. "Look at you, getting all dressed up for this guy! Since when does AJ wear eye shadow and lipstick, huh?"

"Would you get off my back, Kate?" She slammed her makeup remover on the sink and rinsed her face. She was getting tired of her friend berating her because she didn't approve of her current boyfriend.

"I'm telling you, this guy is trying to change you, honey and you're not seeing it!"

"No Kate, what you're not seeing is that I have finally moved on and I'm not wearing make-up and dressing something else besides jeans because of him, it's all me. I want to look good for him, and he would like me just as much if I went on a date with him wearing nothing but some torn jeans and a tank top, but I choose to put some effort because he deserves it." She pulled her brown hair into a messy pony tail and started brushing her teeth.

"AJ, baby, you're delusional! Dean's nothing but trouble!" Kaitlyn was trying her best to keep her argument valid but she knew that AJ was winning this one.

"Oh and Punk wasn't? I know what you're trying to do, Kate, don't you dare think I'm naïve! I'm dating Dean and if that bothers you, then I'm sorry. As my best friend you should be happy for me. All Punk ever did to me was hurt me and that's not what love is about." Toothpaste was trickling down her chin as she angrily spoke to Kaitlyn and she did her best no to crack a smile.

"But Dean is a little bit… off." Kaitlyn said, trying to find the best way to describe Dean. "I'm just not so sure about him, that's it." She rested on her shoulder against the door frame and shook her head.

"You have never given him a chance, and I wish you would. He's such a good person, Kate, you have no idea and it hurts me that my best friend is doing this to me." She spat out the last of her toothpaste and wiped her mouth with a small towel.

Kaitlyn was suddenly interested in the bathroom floor and it was hard to digest what AJ just told her but she was right. She had quickly labeled him as a creepy individual before she got to know him and that was unfair. AJ seemed happy and she should accept it.

She thought about texting Kofi first thing in the morning. They had another plan up their sleeves and it was best to cancel everything, after all, Kofi was also giving up too. Punk had been seeing Eve on and off but nothing was coming out of it. Punk wasn't very much into Eve and she would always giggle and act like a little girl every time she was around him. He was very aware that she was only going out with him because of his bad boy looks and not because she liked him for him but then again, he had his physical needs and Eve was providing him just that.

On the other side of the hotel, there were Punk and Kofi and Punk was having another sleepless night. He could still smell Eve's perfume on his shirt and some of her lipstick had rubbed on it. _Good thing it was a white shirt!_ He thought to himself and he took it off and tossed it on the floor where the piles of dirty clothes were. He made a mental note to do the laundry in the morning.

They went out for some dinner, nothing fancy but she insisted on him taking her to this restaurant. Their table conversation was stale and he did his best to stuff his mouth with food to avoid talking to her. He simply had nothing in common to talk about and when they arrived at her place, she tried to initiate some foreplay but he politely gave her an excuse and left her with almost half of her clothes off. Normally, he would feel bad but this was Eve, and he didn't even care about her feelings. He knew that even though he treated her poorly, she'd come crawling back again and he was an asshole like that. Ladies and gentleman, CM Punk the most romantic guy in the world.

He logged on Twitter on Kofi's laptop and he went through the millions of tweets of fans asking him about his thoughts on AJ and Dean when him and AJ were still an on screen couple. Some people didn't know how to distinguish between real life and fantasy and AJ was only his when they were in the ring together. He still thought about AJ here and there, but it seemed like he was forgetting about her as time went by. As for Dean Ambrose, he wasn't bothered by him. He just hoped that he was treating her the way she should be and that was it as far as he was concerned.

Dean was in her age range and he already 1 upped up him just by being younger. Punk was 7 years older than Dean and it may not seem a lot but it made a huge difference. Dean had no eye wrinkles, and he fit more with AJ than he ever could. He sometimes saw them backstage together, and he even caught them in a lip lock once but he did his best to ignore everything and distract himself with something else. AJ had the right to be happily in love and he didn't have a say in that.

Suddenly an IM popped up and he saw a message from Kaitlyn. Punk raised an eyebrow, he never knew that Kofi and Kate were friends like that and he couldn't help himself but click on it to read the message.

"_Hey Kof, sorry to bother you right now, but AJ is driving me insane with this Dean guy! I'm giving up dude, what we're doing is never enough and it's just impossible for them to get back together! Maybe it's not meant to be after all, what do you think?" _

Punk was flabbergasted. He wasn't dumb, but he couldn't believe what Kofi and Kaitlyn were trying to do. He thought about pretending to be Kofi and reply to her to get more information but it was bad enough to read a private message, let alone posing as another person. He didn't need any more information, and what he read was just proof enough. He was already waiting to confront Kofi in the morning, but then he'd get in trouble for snooping around and that was wrong also. So basically, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place and he couldn't do anything.

"Just my luck." He muttered to himself.

He looked over to Kofi who was sleeping like a baby in his bed. Kofi was the one who encouraged Punk to give Eve a chance, and although he evidently never liked her, he continued to go out with her just so he could prove to his friend that he was over AJ. And now, now Kofi and Kaitlyn were trying to bring them back together and it was absurd. He started recalling those moments where he was left with AJ all alone because of Kofi and now he knew that they had been trying to pull this off for quite a while now. _Kaitlyn must be so pissed off because of Dean…, _he thought to himself.

He went back to the laptop and started scrolling up to read the previous conversations Kofi had with Kaitlyn. They dated back to the day after they had announced their ending of their so called relationship and they had been going at it for almost 3 months now. He was amazed at how determined these two were.

"Kate, I even heard him call AJ's name in his sleep. It's that bad!" One message read. Punk's eyes were wide open now, he did what? He knew that he had dreamt about her a couple of times, but Kofi never mentioned anything. Who knows what else he said in his sleep. This was bad.

All those feelings he pushed to the back of his head were coming back now to haunt him and he immediately shut the laptop and threw it on the couch. He wasn't in love with AJ anymore. No. It was over, _finito_!

Or was it?

Suddenly his phone vibrated in his pockets and Punk jumped, he had been so deep into his thoughts. He took out his phone and surprise, surprise, there was a text from AJ.

"I know you're awake, wanna meet up? Kaitlyn's giving me a hard time."

He stared at his phone and looked at the laptop, he had to tell her. She had a right to know, or else Kaitlyn was going to keep on trying to jeopardize her relationship with Dean and if she found out that he knew, she'd never forgive him.

"Meet me outside my room, no.204."

In less than 3 minutes, AJ was right in front of CM Punk's door and she lightly tapped it so she wouldn't wake Kofi up. The second she saw him, her face lit up and jumped on him for a hug. It had been a while since they hung out apart from being together on Monday nights but that was just about it.

"What's happening, AJ!" Punk patted AJ's back. He inhaled the scent of her hair, and it still smelled like he remembered- strawberries.

"Ugh, I just need someone who will not be judgmental! It might not be the best hour but I'm too pissed to go to bed!" She angrily whispered and she stomped her foot down.

"Well in that case, wanna go do some laundry with me? It's not like we have anything better to do."

AJ looked up and pretended to think, "As long as I don't have to do anything, it's okay by me." She flashed him a bright smile and he chuckled.

"Don't worry the washing machine's going to do all the washing. Wait here, I'll get the dirty clothes."

5 minutes later, they were in the empty laundry room and Punk had just inserted some quarters for the washing machine to start. AJ hopped on one of them and started looking at it as it filled up with water and soap.

"So, what's been going on with you and Kaitlyn? " Punk asked as he hopped on right next to AJ.

AJ sighed out loud and kicked the washing machine she was sitting on with the back of her foot, "She just doesn't like Dean and I don't understand why. She's not giving him a chance, Punk and it hurts me that my best friend isn't happy for me!"

"Well I am." Punk said nudging her with his elbow. He loved to make her smile and he couldn't bear to see her frown. "Come here." He wrapped his hand around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. His lightly kissed her forehead and she closed her eyes. Being like this with Punk equaled to being at home. He was comfortable, warm and cozy.

"I need to tell you something, AJ." Punk said after a moment of silence. She looked up to him and he sighed. He just had to tell her, he didn't want to build their friendship based on lies, that was the reason of why their romantic relationship never worked out and he wasn't willing to risk it again.

"What? What is it?" AJ had a look of concern on her face and she stood up straight to look up at him. Her panic button just went off and she was scared of what he was about to say.

He hung his head low and rolled his tongue over his lip ring. "Kate and Kofi are planning to do something that involves you and me." He wasn't ready to tell her everything or else she'd freak out and go bonkers on her best friend. "That's the only thing I'm going to tell you, and think of this when you notice some odd things going on. Just a head's up."

AJ's initial reaction was to burst out laughing; he couldn't be possibly serious, right? But CM Punk's facial expression never changed and she knew that he was not joking. "Wait, what? Is this true?"

He bit his lip and confessed what he had done, "I've _accidently _read an email of Kofi's from Kaitlyn and that's how I found out." He felt so bad for snooping around Kofi's personal things, but then again, he was glad that he found out about it before they had a chance to do something else.

AJ raised an eyebrow, two could play at this game. "Does it concern Dean as well?" If Punk wasn't going to tell her everything, she might as well get the best bits out of him.

He paused silently, thinking hard while choosing his words wisely. Punk wasn't gullible. "To a certain extent. She wants to get rid of him…" That was the only thing he was willing to say to her. He didn't want to mention the fact that they had been planning on bringing them back together. He was scared of what her reaction might be and he couldn't face rejection so he kept the other part of their scheme to himself.

"So that's why she hates him so much!" AJ's nostrils flared and her face developed a nice shade of red. Suddenly Punk started to panic. He was regretting ever mentioning anything, and now he was worried that he might have made things worse.

"AJ, please. Don't go open your mouth; I shouldn't have been going through Kofi's emails in the first place, this is very wrong!"

"What's wrong is that my best friend wants to eliminate my boyfriend! And you're telling me to shut up? What the hell Punk!" AJ hopped off the washing machine and started to walk away.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going?" Punk ran after her and grabbed her from her arm. She didn't yank it away like she always did but she simply stopped, never turning around to look at him.

"It's none of your business, Punk. Let me go."

"Look at me." Punk applied more pressure to his grip. She balled up her fists and tried to jerk it away but he didn't let her go, in fact he pulled her closer to him. "AJ, I said, look at me."

"And I said let me go, Punk." She turned around to look at him deadly straight in the eyes and she noticed how the air between them had completely changed in a brief second. His facial expressions softened and he was admiring the little fiery woman. She couldn't help but melt at his green eyes and she had longed for his intimate touch but history was not going to repeat itself. "No Punk, don't do this me right now. I'm with Dean, please."

Punk shook his head as if he just got out of a trance and let AJ go. "I'm sorry; I don't know what came over me, AJ." He felt embarrassed and ashamed, what the hell was he thinking?! He wasn't feeling himself anymore.

"Look, it's late and I've got to go, Punk, but this isn't over. I'll keep my mouth shut for now but that's it." She dismissed the last couple of seconds that just happened and walked out of the laundry room.

He stared at the blank space where she stood 5 minutes ago. He felt so foolish, was he really prepared to kiss a girl who was already in a relationship? Wasn't that how they started out? It was an ugly cycle that their relationship couldn't get rid of for good. Though come to think of it, she didn't say no because she didn't want to, but because she was with Dean and she didn't want to hurt his feelings.

_Ah, Dean._

Maybe he _just might_ let Kofi and Kaitlyn get rid of him.


	14. Chapter 14

**I am _so_ sorry that this chapter is so late! I simply don't have the time anymore with school and stuff but I will do my best to continue updating this story. As a reply to some comments, I apologize for putting Dean there but I simply hopped on the 'The Shield' wagon and I wanted to experiment a little with Dean Ambrose :P Don't worry though, AJPunk still lives! Stay tuned! :)**

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"Great match out there, babe." Dean greeted AJ as he came from behind and wrapped his hands around her waist. "You sure beat the crap out of Tamina tonight." He placed a soft kiss on her cheek and she smiled. She was getting used to all these small yet sweet gestures from Dean, no one could have ever thought what a softie he was. In fact, in AJ's eyes, he fit right into the 'perfect boyfriend' category and she was just pleased as punch.

"Well, I wanted to make you proud." She turned around and wrapped her hands around his neck. He took one good look to admire her beauty and gently leaned in for a deep kiss.

"Oh stop it you too! Save that crap for the bedroom! Come on, where is Sheamus? I need Sheamus!" the director screamed. He started to wave the rolled up script in his hands in the air and he was losing his mind because no one seemed to know where Sheamus was.

"Mr. Callahan, sir, I'm here!" Sheamus finally showed up chewing on a half eaten pretzel. That man sure loved to eat.

"Get that thing out of your hands and go out there! You're next!" He slapped the food right out of Sheamus' hands and he frowned as it landed on the floor. "Punk you were great tonight, also. Good job. Go out Sheamus!"

AJ felt rather embarrassed that she had displayed some affection towards Dean in front of Punk. She did her best not to even hold his hand when he was around because she didn't want to strike any tension between the two. Punk told her numerous times that he was okay with everything but she knew that no one liked to see their former lover kiss another person in front of them. This also applied to her when she saw Eve kissing Punk. Eve was more like the get down and dirty type and she was always disgusted every time she saw her plant some seductive kisses on Punk. It was all about sex for her but Punk had made his choice and he didn't seem to mind at all.

"How about you go hit the showers and we'll meet up afterwards?" AJ's attention was quickly diverted to Dean who was waiting anxiously for her answer. She could see the love in his eyes and she knew that this guy was head over heels for her. She felt so lucky to be with such a man like Dean Ambrose.

She found it funny though. Not even in a million years, could she ever imagine herself with a guy like Dean. Dean was a unique person and there were also times where she would avoid him in the hallways. There just never was any connection, she wasn't even interested in being his friend when he first joined the roster. She had spent a whole day watching his old wrestling matches that were filled with more blood than sweat and from that day on, she just couldn't look at him without picturing pools of blood around him. It was weird and grueling.

"I'll be ready in 15 minutes! Wait for me next to the divas locker room, okay?" She got on her tiptoes and gave him a brief peck on the lips. "And don't change, that black shirt looks amazing on you." She placed her hands on his chest and she sighed at his marvelous body. He had a body to die for, and she couldn't wait for that day where he laid naked on top of her. She got the chills just by thinking about it.

"I won't change a thing, hurry up!" He gave her a tiny slap on her butt and she scurried off to get ready. He watched her happily skip down the corridor till she disappeared and he looked on his side to see AJ's on screen boyfriend still lingering in the background playing with his phone. He slipped his hands into his pockets and looked at his shoes. he hated small talk but, you couldn't just not talk to a guy like CM Punk, he was after all, _The Best in the World_. "Nice work out there, Punk." That was the best thing he could come up with and he felt foolish.

"Yeah, you too." Punk's head quickly shot up from the phone and he looked almost displeased at the sight of Dean. He was fine with Dean dating AJ but that didn't mean that he could be friends with him outside the ring. Inside the ring, there was nothing to talk about; Dean was one of the best workers he had ever seen in his entire life and there was no point in denying that. He peeled off the tape that was wrapped around his hands and threw it behind the crate next to him. Punk almost forgot about Dean's presence as he started to walk back to his locker room when he heard his name being called. He turned around to look at a distressed Dean.

"Do you think…" Dean ran a hand through his golden brown hair; he was trying to rephrase his sentence better in his head. "Does AJ tell you anything about me?" Dean was having a hard time to express himself, especially to CM Punk but he knew that AJ and him were close and if she talked to anyone, it would only be him.

CM Punk was caught a bit off guard; he had never expected Dean to say something like that, especially to him since they weren't exactly friends. Punk rubbed the back of his head and sighed out loud. He wasn't in the mood to play Dr. Phil, "Look Dean, she's very much into you, but if you hurt her, you'll have to deal with me." He tapped him on his shoulders and walked away. Punk was definitely not going to give Dean relationship advice, after all, he still sort of wants what Dean currently has and there was no way he was going to play cupid.

Dean watched Punk as he made his way out of his sight and he stood there trying to digest what Punk just had told him. Did he just give him a warning, or was it a threat? His feelings for AJ were strong but he wasn't prepared to say he loved her yet. After all, they had only been dating for a couple of months now and things were going slower than a tortoise. He sighed out loud. He would never hurt AJ but he was a bit devastated that he couldn't take their relationship to the next level. AJ was different from all the others girls, you had to take your time with her and he couldn't blame her. She had too much emotional abuse, mostly from Daniel Bryan and trusting guys was never going to be her forte, so things weren't going as smoothly as he hoped they would.

Fifteen minutes later, he was waiting right next to the divas locker room just like how they planned and he rested his back against the wall. He looked at his watch and saw that AJ was running a bit late, well she always put the effort in looking good for him and he wasn't complaining.

Suddenly the door opened and Alicia Fox walked out, "You're waiting for AJ?" She immediately asked the second she caught a glimpse of Dean. Everyone knew they were dating and he was okay with that.

"Yeah. She in there?"

"Yup," she peeped her head inside the locker room and yelled, "Hey AJ! Dean's here!"

"AH! Coming, coming!" AJ struggled to get her other shoe on as she hopped on one leg to walk out. She had her bags with her inside and she asked Dean to help her carry them. He gladly took almost all of her bags and they started to walk down the hallway and out of the building.

Once in the parking lot, they found his car and he tried to stuff all her bags in the trunk. "AJ, stop carrying so much stuff with you."

"Heard that before and it's not going to happen!" She held her hands together as she watched Dean fight with the last and heaviest bag. "Why don't we put it on the back seat? No one's going to ride with us, as far as I'm concerned."

"That's a good idea; my back's already killing me because of this stupid bag. Who needs to go to the gym when you can carry around AJ's bags?" He opened the door and threw it without any caution and slammed it shut.

"Hey! Careful with that!" She playfully punched him in the arm and he turned around and grabbed her from her waist and lifted her from off the ground. "Don't tell me what to do, you little crazy bird!"

"I'll do what I want! Now put me down!" She tried to wriggle out of his grasp but he was too strong for her. He turned around and gently put her down using the car for support. She had nowhere to go and he rested his hands on either side of her.

He stared down into her brown eyes and she could tell that he was hungry for a kiss. She ran her hands through his messy hair as some of it fell in front of his eyes. Not a lot of people could see it, but he was a beautiful man. She lightly rested her hands on his warm chest, and slowly leaned in feeling his hot breath on her lips. She gulped and his lips twitched into a small smile. Dean dug his fingers in her hips as he pressed his body against hers. He gently brushed his lips with hers and she immediately grabbed him from the back of his head to deepen the kiss. She let his hands wander her body as she quivered in his own mouth. He was capable of getting her weak in the knees without even trying too hard.

"Hey AJ…" he said in between kisses.

"Hmm?"

"We should stop; we're in a parking lot."

"I don't mind…" she said as she went down for his neck. She was ready to do the deed right there.

"Well actually AJ," It was now or never. It was worth the shot and he seized the opportunity to take their relationship to the next level, "If you wanna do something… we could go to my place, it's about 15 minutes away from here." He kept his cool as if it didn't take him all the guts in the world just to say that. They were in Cincinnati, Ohio, Dean's home state.

AJ took a moment to think over Dean's suggestion. "Well, maybe I don't want to wait 15 minutes…" She started rubbing the huge bulge he had showing through his jeans.

Dean shook his head and chuckled. Who knew innocent little AJ could be so bad? "You're a little devil, aren't you?" he breathed into her ear.

"Only if you want me to be…"

"That's it, get in the car. We're going to my place." He swooped her up bridal style and with one hand opened the car door. He placed her on the passenger seat and he went around and got in.

"Why can't we just do it here?" She almost looked disappointed. She knew that she was the one who told him that she wanted to let things fall into place by themselves, but she just couldn't control her wild impulses anymore as she wanted to tear Dean's clothes off and fuck his brains out right there.

"Because there are security cameras AJ, and even though I know I'm good, I don't want to give anyone a free show." He winked at her and slid his key into the ignition. His confidence turned her on even more and she couldn't wait for him to back up his statement once they were in his house.

The car roared to life and they left the parking lot. So he had a point. It didn't even cross her mind to check around for cameras, and she was glad Dean still could rationalize with a hard on.

AJ couldn't contain herself and her giggles and she was impressed at how determined Dean was to get to his house in the shortest amount of time. She looked at him for a couple of seconds, as one of his hands left the steering wheel and ran through his messed up hair. Dean Ambrose was just something else. He definitely wasn't CM Punk, but Dean could make her go crazy almost as much as Punk did. She wondered how he was in bed, and she knew that she was only a couple of minutes away of finding out.

That black shirt he had on still looked amazingly tight around his chest area and biceps. She couldn't wait for them to get to his home, so she could finally have the opportunity to tear it off his body and make love to him all night long for the very first time.

Dean looked over for a second to catch AJ staring at him.

"What are you looking at?" He smirked.

"What? Can't I look at my boyfriend?"

He shook his head and smiled, he loved it when she called him her boyfriend.

He made a last right turn and he parked the car in his what she thought was his driveway. "Let me just tell you now, the house is a fucking mess so you've been warned." He finally looked over to AJ who still had that flirty smile on her face. AJ was beautiful, and he couldn't believe that Daniel and CM Punk let her slip through their fingers oh so easily. If he was in their situation, he'd fight for her till his last breath and he would still couldn't believe she was his. He didn't want to have sex with her, he wanted to love her and treat her the way she should be treated.

It had only been a couple of months since they've started dating, and he had written the date of their first date down just so he wouldn't forget. He knew that AJ wasn't keeping any records of their relationship, and he was acting like he didn't either, but deep down he knew that in two days they were going to have their 5 month anniversary.

It was sort of unrealistic for him to be dating someone for that long without having any physical intimacy. After all, he is a man, and you can't change facts, and hormones for that matter. Thing was, he was waiting for her to be ready and he didn't want to pressure her into doing anything she didn't want to. Daniel and Punk had emotionally scarred her, and he was even lucky to be holding hands with her right about now.

Deep down in his dark thoughts, he was a bit self conscious about their relationship. Was AJ capable of loving him like she loved Punk or Bryan or was he just the 'rebound guy'? Maybe that's why she wanted to take it slow, she wasn't planning on having a future with him. He didn't like to go to that place, those were just his insecurities getting the best of him, but he did stay up a night or two debating this in his head.

They stepped out from the car and Dean fumbled in his jeans pocket for his keys.

Once in, he turned on the lights and she noticed the dirty plates on the table and some empty beer cans on the coffee table.

"Yeah, I had a couple of friends over last night and I didn't have time to clean up." Dean stretched his arms over his head and just stared at the mess. He wasn't a clean freak either, and if it wasn't for AJ, those beer cans would have over stayed their welcome on the coffee table for another couple of days.

"It's alright, really. It's your place after all." AJ stayed in her place, not sure of what to do with herself. She felt a bit awkward, like when a kid goes to another kid's house for the very first time. Right about now, the other kid's mother would welcome her and offer her a glass of juice.

"Well don't just stand there, make yourself at home." He opened the fridge and took out a beer bottle and opened it. He took a sip and said, "Want something to drink?"

"Nah, I'm okay for now…" she said as she walked over to where Dean was and took the bottle from his hands and he watched her as she brought it to her pink lips and took a sip. "I thought we came here to do something else… "She flashed him a flirty smile and raised an eyebrow. She was definitely ready to get down and dirty with Dean Ambrose for the very first time.

Without a word, he took the bottle from her hands and placed it on the counter, "Come here." He grabbed her from the waist and turned her around. He held her from behind and she hopped on the kitchen counter and wrapped her legs around him. "What are you gonna do, Dean?"

"You just shut your little mouth." He said before meeting her with a rough kiss. She lifted her hands up, and it didn't take him long enough to know that she wanted him to take her top off. He tossed it somewhere behind him, not caring enough where it landed. She unbuckled his belt and opened the button, while he went down on her neck as he hooked his cold index fingers on the bra straps and slid them down past her shoulders. She shivered at his touch.

He softly kissed her collar bone and kept moving down planting kisses on every part of her exposed skin. His hands found the back of her bra and without any trouble, he unclasped it like a pro, and it fell right in AJ's lap.

Dean stopped for a moment, mesmerized with what was before him, "AJ, do you have any idea how beautiful you are?" Those icy blue eyes looked up to her, and she could see all the innocence in his eyes, even with his jeans undone and that huge throbbing bulge poking through.

She gazed lovingly in his eyes, and cupped his face with both of her hands. She bent down and inched her face near his till their foreheads were touching. "Make love to me, Dean…" She whispered in the silence and he slowly nodded and gulped. He was given a job to do and he would not let her down.

Without any other word, he lifted her up from the counter and with AJ still wrapped around his waist; he walked over to his bedroom. It was dark and the only source of light that they had was coming from the kitchen. Despite the darkness, she could still see the outline of her lover and she could still feel his sensitive touch as he gently laid her on his bed as if he was putting a baby in a cot for the very first time.

He climbed on top of her, pinning her hands right near her head. "I'll take care of you tonight." She could feel his hot breath as he whispered in her ear and that was just the cherry on the cake. Her body ached for him.

She watched him peel his black shirt off in the dark and she placed both of her hands on his lightly hairy chest to feel his perfectly shaped muscles. She was never into men like this, but somehow, she found Dean's chest hair a turn on. He got down on his hands again to meet AJ's lips as she wrapped her legs around his waist again.

He planted small kisses on every inch of her delicate skin, giving her goose pumps after each one. The room temperature was considerably low, but she had Dean to keep her warm. He slowly brushed his thumb on one of her breasts, making circular motions around her nipple as he took the other in his mouth and lightly went over it with his tongue. He could see her already squirming under his own touch and he could tell she needed a good one tonight. He wouldn't disappoint her.

She couldn't wait to get both of their pants off and she was through with this teasing agony. She was the kind to enjoy some foreplay but Dean was making it difficult for her. It was like a wave of sexual frustration kept building up and up and she wanted to skip to the real deal as fast as she could.

He kept on kissing down her stomach and stopped at the botton of her jeans. He looked up to her, her chest already going up and down, trying to catch her breath. Her lips were a nice shade of dark pink and his ego already took a boost seeing her like that. "Dean…" She curled her fingers into his hair and he looked up with a cocky smile on his face.

"What?" He kept direct eye contact as he unbuttoned her jeans and unzipped it. He slid it down past her thighs and licked his index and middle fingers seductively.

"Oh God," She managed to say. She watched him as he completely took off her jeans and panties together and she helped him by kicking them off when they reached her feet. Dean didn't like to waste time with clothes. "Just do it already…" She ran a hand on her face, and he still had that devious look on his face.

"Do what?" He chuckled when he saw her eyes widen, she couldn't believe he was being such a tease.

"Take off your jeans now, Dean." He was still impressed on how badly she wanted to have him and he kept looking at her and admiring her beauty in this current state. Her petite body was amazing, she almost looked too fragile to handle but he wanted to do it as much as she did. It had been a while since he had done this since he wasn't the one to find success in the women's department, but that didn't mean that he didn't occasionally take a groupie home just so he could still remember how to fuck. This was all different to him, this was AJ, and she was his actual girlfriend. He couldn't just slide it right in and get the job over with, this was on a whole different level.

"You're an impatient girl, aren't you?" He chuckled as he shook his head at her. She wasn't having any of it. Oral sex could wait for next time.

"Oh, let me handle this! I'm sick of waiting!" AJ got on her knees and pushed him off the bed. She grabbed on one of the loops of his jeans and pulled him close to her. His belt was still unbuckled and his top button was still undone from earlier and they helped her slide his pants down as easily as 1, 2, 3. His boxers were tight on him and she licked her lips as she saw what was causing them to be that way.

She moved herself closer and she grabbed the boxers in her fists and took them off. A satisfied smile crept on her face when she saw what Dean had to offer and she moved back on the bed and rested her head on the pillow and smiled. "I think you can take the lead from here, Dean boy." She bit her lip in anticipation as she saw Dean get on top of her and sliding his hand between her thighs and parted them.

He positioned himself right in the middle as he slowly rubbed her with his hands and slid two fingers in. Her juices were flowing and his fingers were covered in a slippery transparent substance. He licked his fingers again while making direct eye contact. He loved the way she tasted.

"Come on, Dean!" she pleaded with him. She couldn't take it anymore.

He nodded and slowly removed the fingers and readjusted himself before pushing his dick in and a small gasp quickly left AJ's mouth. Her natural lubrication made it easier for him to keep on going deeper and he kept his focus on AJ's face for any signs of discomfort or pain.

He saw her digging her fingers into the covers and clenched them in her fist. "Am I hurting you?"

"No, not at all…" she said in between breaths, "Keep going..." She licked her lips again and gulped. She looked up to him and she grabbed him from his shoulders and lowered him, their faces inches apart. "Go faster." She moaned as she nibbled on his ear.

"Are you sure?"

"Just do it." She wrapped her trembling hands around his torso and he buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her sweet scent.

He quickened up the pace and with every hit he gave her, the more she dug her fingernails into his back. He was no stranger to pain, but this was the sort of pain he enjoyed receiving. This was how he knew that he was doing a fine job. She wrapped her legs around his waist as his grunts and her moans filled the room.

Her breath started to shorten as she finally reached climax and came while Dean was still inside her.

"Oh my fucking God…" Dean said, almost speechless. He stopped for a brief second and waited for AJ to catch her breath again.

"Whew, you can say that again." She had a big smile on her face and she placed her hand on her chest trying to calm herself down. "Talk about stress relief. That was amazing." She looked into Dean's blue eyes and gave him a seductive look. "I guess it's your turn now, is it."

She pushed Dean off of her and she swiftly turned him around and climbed on top of him, straddling his hips. She started rubbing herself on his dick just to see the look on his face.

"AJ… don't do this to me." He said as he bit his bottom lip and loudly inhaled deeply.

"Well what do you want me to do?" Her movements quickened as her juices were covering his hard dick. Two could play the teasing game, she thought to herself.

"I don't think you need me to tell you what I fucking want, AJ." He roughly ran a hand through his hair and pulled at his scalp causing some of the strands to fall on his face. He let out a devastated moan. He took a moment to calm himself and looked up to meet AJ's eyes. Her sexy smile never left her face.

"It's funny how you wanted to be in charge yet you still need orders from me." He raised his eyebrows and waited for her reaction. No one could win a war of words with Dean Ambrose.

Without letting AJ think of something witty to say for a comeback, he sat up and grabbed AJ from under her arms. "This is what I fucking want and I hope you know how to do a good job." He lifted her up a couple of inches and placed her on top of his dick and she slowly slid down. He couldn't contain himself as he felt how warm her pussy was from the inside. He held himself back just to stop himself from coming right there.

She absolutely loved how commanding he was; she loved when Dean talked dirty and it turned her on even more. "Now what?" She placed her index finger on her lips pretending not to know what to do next. She fluttered her eyes and pouted her bottom lip.

He took a fistful of her hair and pulled her body against his chest. "You fuck me like you've never fucked before, AJ Lee."

"That's what I wanted to fucking hear, you asshole." She pushed him back and he rested his upper body down on the bed again. "Let me show you."

She started making circular motions with her hips, teasing Dean one last time before she rested her hands on his chest for support and started to fuck him senseless.

"Oh my God," Dean managed to utter as he grabbed AJ from her breasts and continue to let her have her way with him. She slammed her body against him as the sounds of their bodies colliding at every second filled the room along with their moans.

"Faster!" He demanded as he dug his fingers in her hips and helped her quicken her pace. "Fuck, I'm gonna cum." She let out a huge moan as she called his name before he finally came inside her.

She collapsed on top of him, his cum now oozing out from her pussy and dripping down his dick.

Their hearts were still racing and they were both panting, trying to catch their breaths. That was worth the wait, he thought to himself. He looked down at AJ, her forehead was sweaty and she had her eyes closed.

"AJ, baby." He ran a hand through her now tangled, brown hair and she slowly looked up to him, barely keeping her eyes open. It was like he took all of her energy away and she was now ready to go to sleep.

"You were fucking amazing." He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand and she smiled and enjoyed his warmth that his body was emitting.

"Ugh, I'm so comfy right now but I need to get cleaned up." She groaned in his chest and lightly slammed her fist on the bed.

"Come on AJ, the sooner we clean up, the sooner we can get back to bed."

After they both cleaned themselves up, he handed her one of his t-shirts and she brought it to her nose and inhaled deeply. She loved it how it smelled just like him. It was almost intoxicating. It fitted her little body like a huge over sized dress and he loved how cute she looked in his favorite shirt.

They both slid under the sheets and he draped his hands around her waist. "AJ…"

"Mmm?" She already had her eyes closed, yet she still managed to smile at the sound of his voice saying her name.

He took a couple of seconds to admire her beauty and thought about saying those three words that were running through his mind all night long. He was desperate to say them but he was afraid that he was only saying them because of what just transpired between the two a few minutes ago. "You don't know how lucky you make me feel to have you."

He couldn't say it. He didn't want to scare her away. They have only been together for barely 5 months and it was too early.

"Dean…" she managed to say before she drifted off to sleep.

"Yeah?" He looked down to see her soundly breathing in and out. He kissed her forehead and he smiled, "Goodnight, AJ."


	15. Chapter 15

**Two chapters in one day? I guess you deserve it. :)**

* * *

It had been a week since AJ last seen Kaitlyn and although she was still mad at her for not accepting Dean, she still considered her as her best friend. AJ was overseas the whole week touring and Kaitlyn had house shows to go to and they barely had time to talk. The life of a WWE superstar was a hectic one, and she wouldn't change it for the world, yet she still missed her own time where she was free to do anything she'd like.

With the help of text messages and a crappy reception, AJ managed to plan to spend a whole day with Kaitlyn just to do girl things like they used to do way back when. She was beyond excited and she couldn't wait to share her details about what happened with Dean. She already knew that Kaitlyn was going to crunch her nose in disgust but she just _had_ to tell someone.

They had planned to meet at Kaitlyn's house since AJ's house was currently nonexistent. She figured she didn't need to pay for a house if she wasn't going to live in it and she decided to just stay at hotels or some apartments on her days off, which were basically 5 days in a year.

She had decided to wear a nice knee length pink dress since it was such a beautiful day outside. She complimented the dress by wearing white flats and a small cross over hand bag. She pulled her hair in a nice pony tail, leaving a few strands out to complete the look. She had decided to walk to Kaitlyn's house to feel the warmth of the sun on her skin, only God knew how bad she needed a tan.

"AJ!" Kaitlyn greeted her best friend with a hug, almost squeezing her out of consciousness.

"It's great to see you too, Kate. What have you been up to?" AJ said arranging her bra. She was a bit overwhelmed by the welcome but she ignored it and continued as usual.

"Oh same old, same old, but I heard someone got lucky!" Kaitlyn winked at her and AJ raised her eyebrows. Something was off. Kaitlyn did her best not to mention anything involving Dean and now she was the one who was going to initiate the conversation about him? Peculiar.

"Oh… that." AJ looked down at her flats and bit her bottom lip.

"Come on, out with it! Details!" Kaitlyn sat on the couch and patted the spot next to her so AJ would sit there.

"Are you sure Kate? I mean, you're not exactly Dean's biggest fan…" There was no denying it, Kaitlyn almost hated the guy, and she would do her best to ignore him altogether. Dean knew that Kaitlyn felt like this towards him and he didn't feel the need to do anything about it. It was her problem and not his. It wasn't like he ever did anything to her, so there was no point in apologizing for something that he didn't do.

"Well don't give _all_ of the details, but you know. I bet he was wild as he is in the ring." Kaitlyn's eyes widened as she moved closer to hear what AJ had to say.

AJ still couldn't understand why Kaitlyn was acting this way. Why the sudden change of heart? Maybe she finally realized that Dean was here to stay, and that her opinions about Dean were irrelevant? Or maybe she was just in a very positive mood that not even Dean Ambrose could ruin it. Either way, she wasn't complaining.

"It was great… I wasn't planning on doing it that night, but when it happened, I just wanted more and more. It was awesome." AJ's face turned into a nice shade of red as she recalled the whole thing in her head. A picture of a naked Dean on top of her came right in front of her eyes. Thinking about him and that night just sent tingles right down in her delicate area.

"Well aren't you a bad girl!" Kaitlyn exclaimed.

"Shut up, I don't know anything about you and Ziggler's love life. You should do some of the spilling too, you know!" AJ crossed her hands on her chest and playfully gave Kaitlyn an angry look.

"We're talking about you not me!" Kaitlyn raised her hands in surrender.

"Sure Kate. That's what you always say." AJ rolled her eyes at her best friend. It was true. Kaitlyn was always secretive about her relationships as if she always had something to hide. AJ was practically an open book and even though they had been best friends since high school, she barely knew her at all. Kaitlyn was never the one who came for help and she always had a smile on her face. She wondered whether there were times where she would fake those smiles to hide away her sadness and fears. It was impossible to have a relationship without hurting once in a while, yet Kaitlyn made her relationship with Dolph look like a match made in Heaven. Or maybe it was. She looked at the ring on her finger. She thought whether she'd have the same thing with Dean like Kaitlyn has with Dolph.

Suddenly, the door bell rang and AJ's head turned around to look at door.

"You were expecting company?" AJ's look of confusion on her face scared Kaitlyn and she knew that she was going to be in trouble once she opened the door.

"I… well…., I don't…. I thought we could have a movie day." Kaitlyn did her best to show off her white teeth in a bright smile but she already knew that her best friend could see right past through her.

"Movie day?! With who? Kate…" AJ got up and headed for the door. "I hope this isn't…" She grabbed the knob and she heard Kaitlyn yell 'NO!". She opened the door and just as she expected, there was Kofi Kingston holding a stack of DVDs under his arms along with CM Punk who had two plastic bags filled with food.

"I can't fucking believe this!" She turned around to look at Kaitlyn who had a look of worry on her face. She knew she was in deep trouble and she couldn't smile this one out, not this time.

"Nice to see you too, AJ." Kofi sarcastically exclaimed as they both entered the house and placed the stuff on Kaitlyn's kitchen table.

"I wasn't really expecting to see you two, so don't be offended."

"It takes a lot more for me to get offended, Miss AJ. I was thinking we should start with some comedies and leave the scary ones for tonight!" He waved some of the horror DVDs right in AJ's face, trying to scare her.

AJ ignored Kofi's antics and she looked at her distressed best friend, "Kaitlyn, bedroom NOW!"

"I can't fucking believe you!" AJ immediately said once they were locked inside Kaitlyn's pink bedroom. Everything was covered in pink, from the lampshades to the carpets. Guess we all know what her favorite color was. "That's why you were acting so nice earlier; you just wanted to soften the blow!"

"Listen AJ, I…"

"No, and here I was thinking that you've finally came around and started to accept Dean. I knew that there was something fishy but not like this!"

"So I invited a couple of friends over, what's the big deal?"

"You invited my ex-boyfriend, that's the big deal, you idiot." AJ's blood was boiling and boy was she mad. It angered AJ that Kaitlyn just couldn't accept Dean and that she'd go through lengths just to get rid of him.

"Did I ever tell you to go and have sex with Punk? No, it's just a movie day, stop over reacting." Kaitlyn crossed her hands on her chest and she looked down at the little diva.

"Look," AJ took a moment to let everything sink in and accept it, "I'll play nicely but you're going to regret this. Trust me."

"Whatever AJ. I bet Punk brought some ice-cream!"

"I hope you fucking choke on it." AJ muttered under her breath as they walked out of the bedroom.

She could see that they both had made themselves right at home, as if they had already been here a couple of other times before. They had already popped in a DVD as they waited for the girls to come back before they pressed play.

Kaitlyn made sure to sit right next to Kofi so AJ could take her place right next to CM Punk. _Of course_. AJ rolled her eyes and slouched down right to the straight edge superstar. He was wearing a black t-shirt with some band logo on it and shorts. She couldn't help herself but think how great he looked. It had been a while since she saw him wearing normal clothes.

"Hey AJ." Punk said as he looked at an angry AJ.

"Stop it, I know you're in on this thing too. "

"What?"

"Shut up you, Kof, press play. "

They went through almost half of the DVDs that Kofi brought and they had eaten everything. It was mostly junk food along with some chocolate bars and crisps.

After the fifth movie, she excused herself from the couch and headed for the kitchen to find some pills in the first aid cabinet in the kitchen to cure her upset stomach. It felt like it was about to explode and she hated herself to see how huge her tummy was getting in her little pink dress. She poked it and saw that it was rock hard. This is why she preferred a healthy diet instead of eating greasy, fat food.

"No more eating for me then." She rubbed her belly area and sighed out loud.

"For the record, you still look great." CM Punk said as he came in just in time to hear AJ talk to herself.

"Jesus, you startled me!" AJ immediately turned around with her hand on her chest. "Don't creep up on me like that."

CM Punk rubbed his beard and chuckled. He ran his tongue on his lip ring out of habit and said, "Sorry, that wasn't my intention."

He took one good look at AJ. Her pink dress was making it hard for him to think straight. It made him want to grab her from her face and kiss her like he had never kissed her before. There was something about her that day that was driving him crazy. He always felt normal with a little hint of jealousy when he'd see her with Dean but tonight, he felt like a lion that hadn't eaten in days. He was disgusted at the thought, but he couldn't help himself and his hormones.

It was funny how she still drove him nuts after all this time. He had stopped thinking about her ever since he saw that she had moved on with Mr. Dean boy. He wanted to bash his face in and kick his ass just to win AJ's love back. Dean was such a lucky man, he had a clean slate and his was dirtier more than ever. He didn't hurt her in the past, nor did he make her cheat on her boyfriend just because he wanted to get some.

Kaitlyn's idea for this event was only her little plan to bring them back together, and he had agreed to it pretending to be oblivious towards the whole thing. He had never come around on telling Kofi about reading his emails, but he thought that he had gotten even with him by letting him toy with his heart a bit more. It was worth the shot, even though it felt like he was letting somebody else do his work for him. That was exactly what it was, but it wasn't his plan and he supposedly didn't know about it either so in a twisted way, it made everything acceptable.

He saw AJ as she got on her tip toes and struggled to get the Tylenol from the top shelf of the cabinet.

Punk watched her and he smiled to himself. She was adorable without even trying. "Here." Punk came right next to her and easily got the pills and handed them down into AJ's hand.

AJ pushed the loose strand of her hair behind her ear. She had to re-do her pony tail. "Thanks." She gave CM Punk a small smile and avoided to make eye contact. If she looked into his green eyes, she knew that she was going to fall for him instantly. She couldn't trust herself.

"AJ…?"

"Mmm?" She popped out two pills from the sachet and downed them with a glass of water.

"Look at me."

"No." She placed the glass in the sink and rested her hands on the counter as she stared at the water that was dripping from the sink. She turned the knob to stop the leakage but still water came out. She looked pathetically at it.

"AJ."

"Stop it, stop saying my name. Stop everything, please." Tears were forming in her eyes, and she hated herself because she didn't want to mess her makeup. She was already looking like a whale in her dress; and smudged makeup would be the cherry on the cake.

Punk stared at her back and watched her shoulders shake. He knew that she was crying and he could confirm it when he heard her sniffle.

"Why are you crying?" Punk thought about putting a hand on her shoulder but he held himself back because he didn't want to upset her more.

She brought a hand to her face and wiped away the salty tears. "I don't know what's coming over me, but please don't mention anything."

"AJ you know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you."

"That's the problem. You're not doing anything and yet I'm crying!"

She couldn't control her emotions and she was a wreck. She didn't want him to see her like that, so weak, so powerless. If she turned around and saw her, he'd know that deep down she still had feelings for him and she wasn't ready to admit it. No.

She thought about Dean and how genuine his love for her was. She cried even more, why couldn't she get rid of CM Punk once and for all? Dean was her boyfriend, she just had the most amazing sex ever with him and yet here she was crying about CM Punk.

"I guess you never truly get over your first love, huh." Punk slowly said as he slid his hands in his pockets.

"And I hate myself everyday for it. " She wiped away the tears and wished she had a tissue but she didn't know where Kaitlyn kept them.

"Here." Punk said as he handed her the kitchen roll as if he was reading her thoughts. "It's the only thing I could find."

AJ smiled as she took the kitchen roll and took a piece to wipe her nose with it.

"Come here." Punk grabbed her from her shoulders and it sent shivers down her spine. She had forgotten his touch and it almost felt like electricity ran through her whole body. He turned her around and let her cry into his chest as he stroked her hair repeatedly. He could feel his shirt getting soaked but he didn't want it any other way. It felt great to have his love back in his arms again. He just wished that it was in a different way.

"This was a bad idea." Punk managed to say as he kissed AJ's head. "I knew that me and you could never be just friends. Who were we kidding?"

"The worst thing is that there is a guy out there who truly adores me."

"Shh, you _deserve_ someone who adores you and loves you, AJ." He wanted to add with that sentence. He wanted to tell her that he wanted to be the one to give her those things. He wanted to give her all of his love, his admiration, his whole heart... but that would just upset her even more.

"Stop Punk, okay…" she collected herself and felt embarrassed for her emotional breakdown. "Ugh, this is just sad." She brought the used tissue to her eyes and slowly patted them, trying not to ruin her makeup even more.

"I've said this before and I'll say it again. AJ, you know I'll always be here for you." He slowly touched her cheek with the back of his hand and she closed her eyes. Damn, did she miss his touch. Dean could fuck, but CM Punk was something else. She wanted to be reminded of how great CM Punk was, but that was just her physical needs trying to tempt her into doing something that she'd regret later.

"Okay," she took a deep breath, and waited for herself to calm down. "We need to get back on that couch before they start thinking something." She could still feel how hot her cheeks were and she knew that her eyes were puffy. "I need some more water."

CM Punk poured himself a glass of Pepsi and he watched AJ as she was trying too hard to get her act back together. She didn't want anyone to suspect a thing. She didn't want to give Kaitlyn what she wanted.

"I think I'm fine now." She took a deep breath and smiled at Punk. "Do I look like I've been crying?"

"Crying? What crying?" He winked at her as they both started to walk out of the kitchen when he roughly caught her by her hand. She turned around giving him a quizzical look.

He cupped her face and he inched closer, he was ready to devour those luscious lips of hers but he held back. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. You should learn from your mistakes and not repeat them.

"AJ, you are one special girl and do not let anyone else tell you different."

She could feel his hot breath on her lips and she desperately wanted to kiss him and she yearned to taste the metal of his lip ring again. She slowly nodded her head and gave him a weak smile.

"I'll always love you, remember that okay?" He kissed her forehead and he took one good look at her before he walked out of the kitchen and sat back down next to Kofi pretending that nothing had happened.

AJ stood there speechless and motionless. She couldn't feel her hands or her legs yet her heart was pumping so hard, she thought it was going to pop out of her chest at any second.

_He still loves me… _She thought to herself as a smile crept on her face. Tears were forming in her eyes and she shook her head trying to stop herself from breaking down again.

She got back to the couch and sat right next to CM Punk. He looked down at her and she gave him a small smile. AJ looked into his green eyes and nodded. She wanted to tell him that she had never stopped loving him, but she wasn't able to say it yet, especially not in front of their best friends. But she knew that CM Punk knew what she had meant by that nod and they both gazed at each other lovingly as her smile got even wider.

Kofi and Kaitlyn shared a look as they both had realized that everything was going exactly according to plan.


	16. Chapter 16

By the time it got 11 o'clock, both Kaitlyn and Kofi were fast asleep snoring on the couch. AJ was going in and out of consciousness and her eyelids were feeling very heavy. All she wanted to do was crawl into a nice, warm bed and sleep. As for Punk, his energy level only went down by 1% and he eventually got bored watching movies all by himself.

"AJ, AJ, wake up." Punk nudged AJ who was happily dreaming of slumber. She didn't think she'd crash at Kaitlyn's when she put on her dress that morning or else she could've opted for more comfortable clothes. On the other hand, she didn't think she was going to spend the day with CM Punk and company also.

"Huh?" As AJ opened her eyes, she took a good two seconds trying to remember where she was. She looked onto her side and was immediately met with CM Punk's eyes. "Whoa! What the hell!" AJ got up, still disoriented and almost fell down trying to catch her balance. She had no clue where she was.

"AJ, it's only me. Are you alright?" Punk grabbed AJ from her shoulders and shook her. He had never witnessed AJ act like that and he almost freaked out. He was definitely not prepared to face memory loss.

"Oh fuck, my head hurts. I'm alright, I'm alright now." She patted CM Punk on his shoulders and left them there. Her eyes were still closed as she let out a huge yawn not caring whether the others were asleep or not. Her mouth felt dry and she was in need of a glass of water. She tried to run a hand through her hair but she forgot that it was pulled back in a pony tail so she ended messing it up.

"What the hell was that? You fucking scared me." Punk pulled AJ into a hug as he caressed her hair.

"I'm alright now, don't worry. This thing sort of tends to happen to me from time to time when I sleep at somebody else's house. My body is alright with hotel rooms, but everything gets weird when I'm in a house!" AJ felt rather embarrassed as she regrouped herself and pulled away from CM Punk's hug.

Punk's eyebrows were furrowed as he still looked at AJ like he was waiting for her to have a crazy episode right at that second. "I'm okay, Punk." She assured him as she rearranged the skirt of her dress.

"Good, I was hoping you'd join me doing absolutely nothing because I'm bored and everyone wants to sleep." Punk kept his voice on a normal level, he knew that Kofi was a heavy sleeper and no earthquake could wake that kid up. He shot Kaitlyn a glance and he immediately caught her smiling in her sleep. He figured that nothing in the world could wake her from the wonderful dream she was having.

"You woke me up because you're bored?" AJ put her hand on her hips and waited for Punk's answer.

"…Yes, is that bad?" He didn't like the look on AJ's face. He felt like a kid who just got caught stealing cookies before dinner by his mother.

"I want to sleep!" AJ dragged off the last word and whined like a little child. She slumped back on the couch and brought her knees to her chest and snuggled on her side.

"Oh no you don't, AJ." He grabbed her from her waist and he lifted her up and onto his shoulders and walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. "I ain't staying up all night by myself!"

"Put me down!"

"Have I ever listened to you, AJ?"

"Punk, I'm not fooling around, put me down right now." She tried to kick and punch but it was all for nothing.

"Do you promise to stay awake with me?"

"Will you put me down if I say yes?"

"Sure."

"Okay, okay. Then I'll stay awake with you."

And just like that Punk put AJ down and gave her a toothy smile. "I'm not happy about this, just so you know. I need my beauty sleep!" She scoffed as she crossed her arms on her chest. She didn't know why she gave up that easily but she knew that a part of her wanted to spend some times alone with CM Punk, finally not inside the squared circle.

"You're already beautiful, no need for beauty sleep." He winked at her as he opened the fridge and took out a can of Pepsi.

"Nice pick up line, you douche." She took the can out of his hand, opened it and started to down it in huge gulps.

"Uhm, AJ would you like some Pepsi?" Punk noted sarcastically as he looked at AJ with a raised eyebrow. He watched it as she drank it down in one breath.

"That's for not letting me sleep." She handed him the almost empty can in his hands and she hopped onto the counter right next to him.

"Well this is definitely not the AJ I know." He took one step back eying her up and down. It served him as an excuse to admire her beauty a little longer. He wanted the image embedded into his mind for those lonely nights.

"What? You want scared, little AJ?" She placed her right leg onto her left leg and started to tap the cupboard with the heel of her foot.

"Not exactly, I'm quite curious of what this AJ is capable of doing." He rested against the table and kept his gaze on her, waiting for her next comeback.

"Don't get your hopes up, there buddy." She said without any thought and Punk's facial expression changed instantly. "Oh come on, you know I didn't mean it like that." She rolled her eyes and sighed out loud. She wanted to take it back, but she didn't want to make a big deal out of nothing.

Punk didn't know why those words bothered him, they just did and he had a hard time trying to hide the disappointment on his face. It was easy to fake smiles and tears in the ring, but in real life it was a different story. He didn't want to lie to AJ; in fact he desperately wanted her to know how really deep his feelings were for her. Sure he had told her he loved her, but he wanted to show her. After all, actions spoke louder than words.

He rolled his tongue over his lip ring and looked at AJ. She had Dean written all over her and he almost felt disgusted at himself. What did he think he was going to get out of this? Did he think he was going to magically get AJ in his arms? She had a boyfriend, and he was trespassing. He was not being a good friend.

"What?" AJ was feeling very self conscious under CM Punk's eyes and she was feeling a bit uneasy.

"Nothing," Punk rubbed his beard and looked out from the kitchen window, "Wanna go out in the backyard? I heard Kaitlyn got a swing set." He slid the glass door that led to the yard and stepped outside, instantly freezing as the chilly air hit his skin. He might just regret wearing shorts.

"What? And how come I never knew of this?" She followed CM Punk's steps and walked outside. "Oh my, _God_! Me first!" She pushed Punk to the side and like a little kid, she hopped on and demanded to be pushed.

"Alright, alright!" Punk said and he placed both of his hands on her back and pushed. He got a glimpse of her black bra strap and he did his best not to think any dirty thoughts.

"Ah! This is so much fun, yet fucking cold!" Her hair danced in the air and she didn't care one bit if her dress would reveal her lacy white panties. CM Punk was behind her and he couldn't see a thing.

"Hey, I'm only doing what you're telling me to." Punk continued to push her and silence fell between the two.

"I wish Kate had told me about the swing set." AJ said out of the blue. AJ felt almost betrayed that her best friend since high school didn't ask for any help when it came to setting up the swing set. She could imagine both of them trying to figure out the instructions manual as they skipped through all the pages written in foreign languages until they found the English version.

She knew that their work schedule wasn't really providing them any spare time to hang out and do stuff together but she was sure that Kaitlyn knew that AJ would get involved the second she would tell her about it. She couldn't have possibly built it all by herself, she thought to herself, but then it hit her – Ziggler. She hated that she had taken a backseat to Dolph Ziggler, but she couldn't blame her, Kaitlyn always took a backseat whenever AJ was dating someone and now she knew how it felt to be on the other end of the stick. She was such a horrible best friend.

She sighed out loud and looked up at the stars. She hoped for a shooting star, so she'd make a wish that she would stop feeling the way she was feeling. She'd wake up the next morning feeling happy and she'd pour herself a bowl of her favorite cereal and she'd watch TV all day. She sometimes dreamed of having her normal life back. There wouldn't have been any Daniel Bryan, or CM Punk, and to much of her dismay, she wouldn't mind if there wasn't any Dean Ambrose also.

She was at a stage where she didn't know what the hell she wanted. She had a guy who absolutely adored her, almost too much sometimes, and she couldn't even return half of it back. Sure they were having fun, but reality had to kick in at some point or another and the games had to stop.

She liked Dean but she'd lie if she'd say she loved him. He always did the right things, gave her everything she needed, yet he would never fill the void she felt in her heart, as cheesy as it sounded. Dean knew how to take care of her properly, but there was still something she felt deep down inside that made her doubt him and their relationship. It wasn't going to last forever and she didn't want to face it.

She couldn't help but feel insanely jealous of Kaitlyn. She had everything AJ desperately wanted ever since she was a little girl: The perfect man. It was ridiculous how AJ couldn't be an independent woman, always wanting a man fighting her battles during the day and making love to her all night long. She wanted a ring around her finger that symbolized that he was hers forever and nothing could change that. Maybe she was picking the wrong guys, or maybe he was already there and she didn't even know it yet.

What a hopeless case.

Punk had grown very quiet behind AJ, and she could only hear the sound of his breath with every push he gave her. His fingers were almost turning blue in the cold weather but he didn't mind as long as he was with AJ. He was freezing all over and he desperately wanted to breathe into his hands, hoping that he still had some circulation of some sort. His face felt numb and he couldn't believe that the little diva didn't seem to be affected at all by the weather.

"Why are you so quiet?" She managed to break the silence.

He heaved an uncomfortable sigh at her question, forming a thick cloud of air right in front of him. He always used to pretend like he was a fire breathing dragon on cold days when he was a little child, but today he just wanted to go inside and get lost under the warm blankets.

He stopped pushing AJ as her speed was decreasing with every swing until she stopped. He was not into the swing set anymore and she sensed that something was up.

He walked right in front of her and stared at her, as if he was trying to figure out the combination of a tightly sealed safe. She felt very conscious under his scrutinized gaze and she wondered what she did wrong this time when he was the one who woke her up in the first place. She didn't like to jump to conclusions but he wasn't giving her any other options to think about either.

"Ya know, it's kinda funny…" he said as he raised his index finger. A smile crept on his face but she knew there was nothing to laugh or smile about. She was scared.

She looked up to him, trying to figure him out but she couldn't. No one could figure CM Punk out. He kept shuffling on his feet and he shoved his hands into his pockets.

She wanted to say something, but what could she say? She waited for him to continue, and she knew he'd just do that."What I said in the kitchen… you know I meant it, right?"

_Oh._

Her eyes widened and she suddenly felt a lump form in her throat.

He looked at her again, and he knew that she was oblivious to everything that he was thinking or feeling. He desperately wished that she could read his mind, but he knew he had to say what he had on his chest in order for her to say something about it.

"I know," she said as she rocked herself back and forth on the swing. It made a small creaking sound. "I don't think you're the kind of person to throw the 'l' word so casually to anyone." She started to play with the hem of her dress and he tried so hard not to look at her legs. He wanted to keep focus on the things he wanted to tell her but damn she was torturing him and she wasn't even aware.

He nodded and inhaled, "And you have nothing to say to me? I just said I love you, AJ. Doesn't that make a difference to you?" He wasn't going to spend time playing games; she needed to know how he truly felt. This time he wasn't going to hold back and he didn't care if he looked like a weak man in front of her. He wanted to tell her everything that he kept bottled up for so long.

"I'm pretty sure you know how I feel about you, Punk." She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head, dismissing him.

A sense of anger was creeping up on him. He couldn't believe that she was taking the situation so lightheartedly. He was there, prepared to spill his entire love for her and then she had the audacity to shrug him off like what he said meant absolutely nothing to her. Those must have been crocodile tears back in the kitchen.

"I'm not entirely sure when you're riding Dean most of the time." He crossed his hands on his chest and he furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't want to go this way but there was no stopping him now.

"Excuse me?" She couldn't believe his rudeness and she was offended by his tasteless comment.

_That caught her attention,_ he thought to himself.

"You fucking heard me."

"I'm guessing Eve isn't doing a good job, now is she? Is that why you're taking it out on me?" He wasn't the only one who can hurt people with words. Two could play this game.

She stood up and looked straight into his eyes, he was not going to talk to her like she was a piece of trash.

"Eve is fucking gone. I never even liked her but you seem to be over rainbows and stars with Mr. Dean Ambrose." He reeked of jealousy and he spat out his name like there was venom on his tongue.

"Why the fuck do you hate him so much!" She pushed his chest and he stumbled two steps backwards. She was getting real sick of people frowning upon her boyfriend and she didn't need to hear the same old things from him also.

"Because he has something I want."

"Well newsflash, I'm not a fucking prize you can win at a contest, you fucking douchebag. You were the one who wanted us to be friends! You lost your chance and now you have to deal with it." She kept pointing her index finger at him like she was accusing him of murder.

"Oh no honey, you were the one who said that this will never work out.'' He gestured back and forth at both of them. Somehow he wasn't feeling cold anymore. He could feel his blood boiling; he had so much hate and rage inside of him. He wanted to rip Dean Ambrose to shreds all because he was giving AJ what Punk wanted to give her- Love.

"And I was right! Look we're already fighting and we're not even together."

"I don't fucking care."

"What the hell do you want from me, Punk? I can't read your mind. I can't know what you want if you don't tell me."

"I want you; I want you to be mine. I want to be the guy you're holding hands with. I want to be the guy who'll take you out to dinner and I want to be the one you'll go to bed and sleep with every night. What I don't fucking want is to hide in the shadows and keep everything in the dark. I want you so bad, AJ. It's fucking killing me." He slowly stepped closer, afraid that he was going to scare her away. He brought his hands to her face and cupped her cheeks, "Be with me, AJ."

She was lost for words. Where did all of this come from? She must have been dreaming. She was waiting for him to say those words ever since they decided to be just friends, yet now it was too late. "Punk, I…"

"Fuck it, AJ. Fuck everything and fuck everyone. Before you say what you're going to say, look into your heart. What do you really want?" He prayed that she would say his name, or else he could just pack up and leave.

"Don't put me in this position, Punk. You know it's not easy. Dean loves me!" She pleaded.

"But do you love him?"

Tears formed into her eyes, blurring her vision. He had hit a soft spot of hers and she couldn't even answer the question herself, let alone to somebody else. She started shaking her head slowly and he quickly caught her tears with his thumb, wiping them away. "He loves me so much, Punk and I…"

"Do you love him?" he repeated again, twisting the knife even more. This felt like torture.

"Punk stop it please." She reached for his hands and pushed him back. She wasn't ready to face her fears yet.

"AJ, no." he grabbed a hold of her hand and gripped her tightly. He stared into her eyes, trying to find the answers but he wanted _her_ to tell him what he needed to know. "I can't wait for you any longer, AJ. I know I am not the best man out there but I can't help the way I feel about you. Do you know how much I want to kiss you right now?"

She bit her lip and she closed her eyes, letting all the hot tears trickle down her cheeks.

"But I won't, trust me. I am not going to repeat the same mistake twice. If I'm going to kiss you, it's because you're with me and not because you're cheating behind somebody else's back. Stop wasting Dean's time, hell stop wasting your own time, AJ and you could save a lot of heartbreak."

"You think it's that easy, huh? You think Dean is going to be all fine and dandy when I tell him it's over?"

"So what? Relationships come and go; you can't stay with someone just because you don't know how to say no."

"And if I do break up with Dean, do you think I'm gonna come and run back into your arms? Is that what you think will happen? You were never the one who wanted to be officially with me, why the sudden change of heart? Is it because you're jealous of Dean? Or is it that you're feeling guilty that you didn't take the opportunity when you had the chance? Face it Punk, you didn't want anything that was remotely related to me, but now you're suddenly all interested because somebody else is giving me what you never wanted to give me in the first place." Her breath became shorter and the vein in her neck was visible and pumping. She was not going to fall for his old tricks again. She was not his little puppet and he wasn't going to pull the strings so she could dance for him. Never.

"I've made mistakes AJ, who doesn't?"

"That's all you have to say?" She was almost disgusted by him, "Punk, let it go."

"I'll let it go if you say that you don't love me and you don't want anything to do with me."

"What?! Punk, why are you doing this to me?"

"Look AJ, if you say you don't love me, trust me, I'll walk away right now and pretend that this has never happened. Just say it, and I'll be gone."

AJ shook her head in disbelief. She couldn't believe that this man who supposedly loved her was putting her in such a tough position. She knew deep down in her heart that she loved him back, but things weren't easy like that. She had to think about others and not just herself, she didn't want to make mistakes because of her own selfishness.

What would Dean say when he'd see her running back to CM Punk exactly after she breaks up with him? He deserved the perfect girl. The perfect girl who would equally return the love he gives her and yet here she was, contemplating of letting him go for CM Punk. She definitely was not the perfect girl for Dean Ambrose, and it was such a shame. Through their 5 month relationship, they barely argued and if they did, they'd make peace just minutes after because he couldn't bear being mad at her. On the other hand, she was hard-headed and ungrateful. She wouldn't stop until she got her way and Dean would usually give in to her garbage just because he didn't want them to fight. She was such a naïve little girl.

"Punk… I," AJ was speechless; of course she couldn't do it. She didn't want to lie to him. She thought about Dean some more and looked at Punk, admiring his facial features. Oh how she missed touching his 4 day old stubble and how it always tickled her lips when she used to kiss him.

"Just say it, AJ." Punk could feel his heart rate increasing by every second that passed by. He was scared and nervous that she would just dump him like that if she said those magic words. If he actually looked deep down, he knew that she wouldn't do it because even just by looking into her eyes for a brief second, he could still see and feel the little love she still had left for him. "Come on, fucking say it."

"I can't fucking do it, alright! Are you happy now? Are you satisfied?" She opened her arms in defeat and looked at Punk in disdain. She couldn't believe that he made her do that. She almost wanted to say, 'I hate you' instead because that was what she was feeling at the time.

She couldn't believe his arrogance and she gave him the perfect boost for his already inflated ego because he already knew that she still loved him, he just wanted to hear it straight from the horse's mouth. She couldn't stand the sight of him any longer.

Dean's image kept popping in and out of her thoughts which caused her to feel guiltier than she already did. She felt like she had cheated on the only guy that genuinely loved her without even touching or kissing another person. If Punk loved her so much, he would back off and let her live her life, but no, Mr. Straight Edge wanted her all for himself as if she was his, which she wasn't.

A small smile crept on his face as he couldn't contain his happiness. All those little doubts that clouded his mind were all gone now and his confidence was at its highest level. He knew it all along. She may pretend to hate him, but deep down, she still wanted him.

"Don't you dare smile Punk, because I am not smiling. How fucking could you? All you do is cause me misery and heartbreak. This is why we will never work out. Just give up already." She shook her head at him and turned around and headed in for the kitchen. This time Punk didn't stop her steps by holding onto her arm, but he stood there as he watched her get in with tears in her eyes. Oh, he'd done it this time. Why couldn't he just do the right thing for once?

She wanted to leave as soon as she could and she didn't want to stay there any longer. It might have been about 1 in the morning but she was seriously contemplating on walking it back to her hotel, just so she could not be in Punk's presence anymore. She felt so much hatred towards him, it was almost over whelming. How could she love someone whom she despised so much?

She found her phone and quickly called for a taxi. She wanted to leave, but she wasn't going to risk her life just because of an arrogant son of a bitch. She checked her handbag one last time and went to the door.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Punk called from behind her.

"What's it to ya, Punk?" Her heart was pounding and she just wanted to scream. He was like a leech, sucking the blood right through her skin.

"You're just going to run away from me?" He almost looked offended.

She let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm taking a page out of your book, my bad." She opened the front door and stepped outside on the porch. That way she could easily hop into the taxi and drive off immediately.

He followed her like a lost puppy. His pride couldn't accept rejection. "Don't bring that shit up again; you know I am sorry for screwing up." And yet sorry wasn't cutting it for her anymore.

She took a deep breath and tried to collect herself the best way she could. "It doesn't matter Punk. It's over." She said softly. She gave him a weak smile and shrugged her shoulders. She was tired of doing the same old shtick with CM Punk. She had a man to go to and that man loved her.

He looked down at his feet and shoved his hands in his pockets. She had won this round and he decided to retreat for the night. There was no use in trying to convince her anymore, she wasn't going to listen. But that didn't mean he would give up just yet, maybe tonight but tomorrow is always a brand new day.

The cab finally arrived and the driver blinked his fog lights at her indicating for her to come.

"Goodnight, Punk." She crossed her arms on her chest and he watched her in remorse, as she slowly made her way down the path and hopping into the taxi.

He nervously chewed on his lip ring as those doubts easily came rushing back. Maybe she really did love Dean after all, she was just having a hard time accepting it.

The sudden realization that he was all alone overwhelmed him. He replayed everything in his head, and he knew that he came on too strong which caused her to run away from him. He shook his head and sighed. He definitely wasn't going to win her affection back by forcing her say things she didn't want to.

He went about it the wrong way and it was all his fault.


	17. Chapter 17

"Hey babe." Dean greeted AJ as he came in through the door. He had been at the gym working out all morning and he was amazed that he could drag his feet and make it through the door. His legs were killing him. He had pushed himself a bit harder today and added more to his usual workout routine.

He put down his gym back right near the door and tossed his car keys onto the table. AJ didn't flinch over from couch and her eyes stayed glued to the TV set. He had expected a better welcome than that but he knew AJ had been acting a bit different as of late. He didn't think much of it; she must have been going through a phase.

He would be lying if he said he didn't like coming home to AJ. She wasn't officially living with him, but her bags were at his place and they would travel together almost always. He remembered how one time he insisted that she should stop wasting money on hotel rooms and apartments and he suggested that she should stay with him for a while till she found a place of her own. He almost had a heart attack when she agreed. On the other hand, he had yet to see her actually try to hunt for an apartment but he wasn't going to pressure her. He didn't want her to think that her presence was a burden to him.

"What are you watching?" He walked past behind her and kissed her head before making his way to the fridge for a bottle of water.

"Nothing, I've been waiting for something good to come on for a whole hour now." She sighed as she kept going through the channels for the millionth time now.

She almost felt like a slob now. It was 1PM and she was still in her Hello Kitty PJ's. Those days where she would be bright up and early were long gone now and for her own selfishness, she put the blame all on Dean. If he didn't treat her like a princess so much, she would still be doing everything for herself. He gave her everything and yet she was still unhappy and after what happened with Punk a month ago, she was still not 100% over it.

"You should have come to the gym with me. You've practically wasted half of your day off on this couch." He sat right down next to her and put his feet up on the coffee table. He was still sweaty but he wanted to take a moment to relax before he hit the shower.

"Hey, I don't tell you how to spend your day off, so leave me alone." The smell of his sweat was nauseating and she got up and slumped down on the recliner. "And go shower, you smell awful."

"Oh really? Don't you like the smell of a man?" His lips curled into a smile, "I smell wonderful."

"If that's the smell of a man, then I don't want any part of it!" She crunched her nose and brought her knees to her chest.

"I know you want all of this, AJ. Don't deny it; you're only hurting yourself if you do so." He pulled off his white t-shirt, and he rubbed his chest. "Are you sure you don't want a piece of this?" He playfully tossed his wet shirt at her and she quickly jumped off the recliner.

"Go shower now!" She took a step back and pointed her index finger at him. "Dean, I'm not playing! That shirt is fucking disgusting."

"Who says I am playing?" He got up from the couch and took a step towards AJ, "I think you'll save us a lot of time by giving up. I mean, you know I'm gonna catch you, right?" He stated matter-o-factly.

"Don't you dare, Dean. You know how much I hate sweat in general, let alone sweaty people." She shivered at the thought of having to touch Dean and all of his stickiness.

"Alright, alright. You win my bad!" He lifted his hands up in surrender and silently walked away to the bathroom.

AJ found it quite peculiar that he didn't put up a fight and she wasn't exactly convinced that he gave up so easily just like that. He loved to tick her off with the smallest of things. He once told her that he only does things like these just to see her face turn to a bright shade of red.

"Good." She pushed some of her hair behind her ear and went to sit down on the couch again.

After a moment of silence, Dean took a peep out of the bathroom door and saw AJ already being absorbed by some television show on the Discovery Channel. He thought she looked so cute that he smiled to himself. He felt blessed to have AJ, even throughout the ups and down.

He bit his lip and like a snake, he slowly slithered back to the living room and took a run for it towards AJ and he tackled her on the couch itself. "GOTCHA!" He hugged AJ and he squeezed her against himself, knowing that she was about to scream at any given second.

"Ew, ew, ew!_ Dean! _Oh god, this is so fucking nasty, Dean!" she tried to squirm her way out of Dean's grasp but she couldn't no matter how hard she tried. "Please, Dean, let me go! I feel like I'm about to throw up!"

"Calm your horses, AJ!" Dean shook her and he pressed his lips to her pink cheek, he knew it would turn red soon. "I can let you go, but…" he rolled his eyes to the ceiling and looked at AJ.

"But what?" She raised an eyebrow, she didn't like where this was going.

"But first you need to agree that I'll take you out on a proper date tonight. It's been a while since we did something, AJ." He smiled at her and stroked her hair.

It was true. They had been around each other for so long now; they almost acted like an old married couple. Long gone those days where they dressed to impress and it seemed like none of them tried to put the effort into the relationship even if they both "loved" each other, so to speak. It almost felt like they both depended on each other and got used to each other just being 'there'. Their sex life was almost non existent but she would never pass an opportunity where he felt like playing with her hair or when they just lie in bed and say sweet things to each other. Other than that, their relationship was pretty _okay_.

AJ didn't know if 'okay' was what she wanted. She got used to the drama so much that she almost felt like there was something wrong with her relationship with Dean, even if things were all peachy. She even went to the extremes where she would start a fight about stupid things just so she could 'feel normal', but Dean would always be there to tell her that she was right and that they should stop arguing. Sometimes she felt like telling him that actually no, she was wrong and he had to defend his rights but he would never do such a thing.

She looked at Dean and she already knew how happy he would be if she said yes, so reluctantly she nodded her head and he immediately gave her a kiss on her lips.

"Now let me go, and go shower. You smell like a wet grizzly bear." She hopped off from his lap and readjusted her top. She could already smell his sweat on her pajamas and she wanted to get out of them as soon as possible.

"How the hell do you know what a grizzly bear smells like?"

"Just go take a fucking shower, Dean!" She rolled her eyes at his stupid question and he immediately ran off to the bathroom. He knew when to stop pushing her buttons and he was also quite aware that AJ didn't like this sort of humor. It was something that he was slowly getting used to, in fact he always restricted himself in telling some jokes because he knew that she would just shake her head and frown at him.

* * *

Later that night, AJ somehow felt the need to look her best so she put on the loveliest dress she owned for her date with Dean. It was a red dress that hugged her petite little body quite perfectly and it was short enough to show her muscled thighs. She almost felt like she was going out to a club but she decided to wear some black tights and a black blazer to complete the look. It had been a while since she took a look in the mirror and actually thought she looked good in general.

She applied her makeup and styled her hair in loose curls. If she was going to look pretty for him, might as well go the long way in perfecting everything. She completed the look with a black clutch bag and some platform wedged shoes. She smiled her herself and admired her reflection, Dean was going to be so thrilled to see her all dolled up. After all, he got used to seeing her looking like a slob that he almost forgot what she looked like in a dress and tonight she wanted to remind him.

Dean readjusted his tie as he looked himself in the mirror. He was wearing a grey suit that he bought a while ago with the first paycheck he earned when he started with the WWE. He wanted to treat himself since all of his hard work was finally paying off. The feeling of being able to buy almost absolutely everything overwhelmed him. He remembered how he started from nothing, ever since he was a kid and now it was all going to change.

He found it quite funny that he was the one with the ugliest pencil case in the classroom and he would always feel inferior to the other kids because their parents bought them all those pens and pencils that his own parents couldn't even afford. Now as he looked at himself in the mirror, he could have all the pens in the world if he was still a kid, but now he was a grown man and he had everything he needed and she was in the other room getting ready.

His nerves were getting the best of him and he wanted to slap himself silly. It had been such a long time since they went out on a proper date that he felt like he was taking her out to dinner for the very first time. Maybe that's what they needed to re-ignite their relationship. He had to admit that while things were all fine and dandy, he felt like there was something missing and he couldn't exactly pin point what it was because according to him, he was doing everything right in the book and he was following all the rules.

"Hey Dean, I'm ready!" AJ shouted from the kitchen. She felt some butterflies fluttering around in her stomach and she kept looking at her reflection using a spoon just to check if everything was good and in its place. She knew she was being fussy, but after she re-applied her lip gloss for the third time, she felt happy with herself.

"Wow look at you!" Dean's mouth immediately fell open at the sight of AJ. She looked so beautiful that for a moment, he thought his eye sight was deceiving him. "Jesus, AJ. You look… amazing!" His eyes were scanning her from head to toe, slowly taking in and admiring every inch of her body.

AJ blushed and she pushed some of her curls behind her ear. "You don't look so bad yourself, stud." His suit was tight enough that she could still make out his chest and biceps and all she wanted to do was tear it off him and take him to the bedroom, but she didn't want to do that just yet. For the first time in many weeks, she felt excited and happy. Maybe this date was really what they needed after all.

The car ride to the restaurant was quiet but it wasn't awkward. The radio was filling the silence and the old songs were keeping them calm and content. He'd put his hand on her leg and shoot a casual smile at her from time to time to which she gladly returned.

"Where are we going anyways?" She finally asked. It finally dawned on her that she had absolutely no clue where he was taking her and they had been in his car for a quite while now.

"Leave it all up to me. Your only job is to look pretty and you're doing one hell of a job." He winked at her and did a left turn. "Welcome to Nicola's. I hope you're in the mood for some Italian food." He flashed an adorable smile, and waited for her reaction.

"Oh my, you really did go out of your way this time. I'm impressed Mr. Ambrose." She unbuckled her seat belt and waited for Dean to park the car.

"Only for you, babe." He was determined to give her what she truly deserved, a gentleman and he was doing his best to fulfill his role properly.

They were both impressed at how lovely the restaurant was, and she was ecstatic that she was going to have her first official candle light dinner. She could cross that out of her 'Fairytale Relationship' to-do list.

Once seated, they ordered their food and talked about nothing in particular. They enjoyed each others' company and ate their delicious meal.

"Damn, I'm so full but I just can't stop eating." She sighed as she twirled her spaghetti around her fork and put it in her mouth.

"I'm glad you like it." He chuckled as he took another sip from his white wine.

"Like it? Love it! I know I've already said it, Dean, but I am truly impressed. You pulled all the right moves tonight." She smiled at him and bit her bottom lip.

"Wait till we get home." He murmured just enough so she could hear him and he winked at her.

She could feel her blood rise to her cheeks and she was glad that she was wearing enough makeup to hide her red face. Dean sure knew how to treat a lady and she was happy that she got to be the one to experience this side of Dean.

As she watched Dean eat his food, she wondered what in the world did she ever do to end up with a good man like he was. She sometimes felt like he was too good for her, and that she wasn't able to give him what he truly deserved, a woman who loved him back equally. Maybe she should try to put some emotional investment into the relationship, just as much as he did.

Two full stomachs later, they both arrived home around 11pm.

"Thanks a lot for that, Dean." AJ said as she got on her tiptoes and wrapped her hands around his neck. "I really had fun tonight." She pressed her lips against his and he rested his hands on her waist.

He gave AJ a warm smile, happy that she was finally coming around. He loved to see AJ in a good mood. "I'm just glad you enjoyed yourself." He kissed her forehead and unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt.

"I sure did…" AJ bit her lip and placed a finger on Dean's exposed area, and as she traced small little patterns, she started to unbutton the rest with the same hand.

Without any other words, Dean's lips quickly met AJ's neck and she let out a sigh when he gently bit her on her most sensitive part. It sent shivers down her spine as she ran a hand through his hair, messing it up. She preferred it like that. Although she loved to see Dean all dressed up and clean, there was nothing better than seeing him like his normal self- messy hair, torn jeans and a plain t-shirt.

He left her neck and walked behind her, sliding her hair onto her left shoulder and slowly unzipping her dress. It gracefully slid down to her feet and she stepped out of it now leaving her in her underwear and tights. She almost felt shy being half naked in front of him; after all they had sex only a couple of times. He used to try and initiate it but she would slowly let him down by saying that she wasn't in the mood or she preferred to cuddle instead. She found it quite strange that even though she found him absolutely sexy, she was almost always never prepared to give him what he wanted.

He ran his cold hands up her arms and left them at her shoulders. He kissed her head, breathing in the smell of her strawberry shampoo. It drove him crazy. "If you don't want to do this, it's fine by me." He managed to whisper in her hair, despite already having a huge throbbing erection.

He wanted to tear off those tights in one pull and fuck her senseless but he knew better than that. He desperately wanted to have his way with her, take her to the bedroom and make love all night but she could find a million excuses not to do it and he was keeping patient much to his dismay. He knew that a red light would go off if someone you're dating didn't want to have sex with you, but he was also aware that AJ was different from all the other girls, so that rule didn't really apply, according to him. He wasn't naïve, by all means, he knew that AJ had a reason as to why she was doing this to him, but he figured she'd tell him when the time was right.

Long gone were the days of where he'd just find the cutest groupie and take her back to his place. He felt like a sick guy after he'd do it, but he was never the relationship type of guy until AJ came along and he had to meet his needs. He was pulling all the right moves, did his best not to upset her and gave her everything she wanted yet she could never give him this just one thing.

It almost felt like a monotonous relationship, but on the other hand, he didn't want to base his partnership with AJ on just the sex, even though it would be great to screw around at least once a week, but that was just him. He enjoyed her company, but sometimes he felt like it was more of a friendship rather a relationship. It was like a relationship between two friends who kissed and lived together, until one of them bothered to find a place for their own. He didn't want to over think it too much or his nerves would get the best of him.

He kept all of his frustration in a small little bottle, and he didn't even have the courage to tell his best friend, Seth about it. He had this idea that he wanted to prove to people that he can be boyfriend material and not just a 'fucker', at least that's what Seth used to call him when he'd see a groupie in the morning doing her walk of shame out of the door. But that was another thing for another day.

"No I want to…" She turned around and peeled off his blazer and aimed it to the chair behind him. She missed but she didn't care. "You took care of dinner tonight, now leave things in my hands." She pulled him from his belt and met his lips, immediately sliding her tongue into his mouth and stopped when things got a bit heated.

"I hope you're not going to be a tease tonight." She could feel his hot breath on her lips. He hooked his index fingers on her bra straps and slid them down past her arms.

"Shh… no one said you could talk." She unbuckled his belt and opened the button of his trousers. "Someone's happy…" She raised her eyebrows and licked her lips as she started rubbing his erection from the outside.

He sighed and closed his eyes. This felt like torture, but he liked it.

"Open your eyes and look at me." She lightly tapped his cheek with her hand and he immediately did what she asked him to do.

She was enjoying this, she felt like she owned him. She was the dominant one, not him and it turned her on even more. This was going to go down the way she wanted and he wasn't going to have a say in this.

"What do you want?" She slipped her hand down his boxers and lightly squeezed his hard on. "Tell me."

"AJ…" He ran a hand through his hair and bit his lip.

"Say it." She looked straight into his eyes, and didn't even blink for a second.

He gulped. It was amazing how a girl like AJ can make him feel so weak. "Go down on me and suck me off."

"Good boy."

She slowly got down on her knees and slid his pants and boxers past his legs. She had almost forgotten at how big he was and she almost let out a small gasp but she held back. She reminded herself that she was the one in charge.

She grabbed his cock and started to jack him off. "You like that?" He slowly nodded as he closed his eyes again and bit his bottom lip. "Open your fucking eyes and look at me."

He watched her as she placed all of his length deep into her mouth and started to moan making him feel the vibrations of her own voice. "Jesus, fuck." He grabbed a handful of her hair as she went down for his balls and came up again to lick the tip.

"I can't wait till you come in my mouth." AJ seductively continued making small talk and that was his breaking point. He couldn't believe his ears and he was almost on the edge of coming right at that second but he held back. He wanted to enjoy this a little longer.

"AJ, you're killing me here." His breaths were becoming shorter as he watched AJ's head bob back and forth. She was making use of her tongue, swirling it around his dick, as if she was licking off a lollipop.

"What do you want then?"

"I want to fuck you."

"Then do it." And with that she went over to the table and she pushed everything off it and hopped on. "I want you to fuck me on this table like there's no tomorrow." She rolled down her tights and threw them on the floor. She spread apart her legs and with her index finger, she motioned him to come forward.

He removed his pants and boxers that were still around his ankles and he immediately took his place in between her legs and started to kiss her roughly. "Fuck me, Dean. Do it." She said in between hot kisses.

He slowly gave her a small nod and took a step back to marvel at her own beauty. Maybe she was coming around after all. He slid down her panties and positioned himself right at her entrance. "And don't go slow; I want to feel all of you." She lied back on the table, closed her eyes and left it all in his hands to complete the job.

* * *

The next morning AJ woke up next to a naked Dean on his bed. She had no clue as to how they ended up there but she remembered that they had one wild night and she loved every second of it. The clock read 10AM and it was a Sunday morning. It looked to be a wonderful day since sunlight was trying to enter the room through the blinds and she couldn't feel anymore better.

The covers were all messed up and the pillows were on the floor. They must've slept immediately out of exhaustion and she was already feeling a bit sore down there. Dean knew how to give a good pounding.

They weren't scheduled for anything that day and she was already looking forward on spending the whole day with him. She looked at him and admired his peacefulness. She didn't have the heart to wake him up. His breathing pattern was faintly audible, and she found it too cute. She thanked God that he didn't snore like Daniel Bryan did.

She sat up and brought her knees to her chest and hugged her legs. Why was she giving him such a hard time? There was a man who wanted to love her, and treat her like a queen and she was always the one to put him down. Why couldn't she love him like he loved her? She slowly brushed some of his hair from in front of his eyes to the side and smiled to herself.

"We'll make this work." She whispered and bent down to kiss his forehead.

Suddenly, her phone started ringing from the kitchen and she slowly got up and tiptoed out of the room and into the kitchen. Her phone was still in the clutch bag she used last night.

She looked at the screen and her eyes widened when she saw that CM Punk was calling her.

"What the fuck do you want?" She immediately spat out when she hit the answer button.

"I know it's your day off, AJ but I just got word about what's going to go down tomorrow night." Punk's voice almost sounded a bit worried.

"Why do they always tell you first?" She found it a bit annoying since she made part of this big storyline just as much as he did. She could already feel her blood boil at the sound of his voice and the more he spoke, the more she wanted to get into the phone and choke him out.

"That's not important, AJ. Tomorrow we're getting engaged..."and then he quickly added, "On screen that is."

"WHAT?! Okay this has got to stop, they already know how unhappy I am with this stupid storyline, and I don't want to go any further." She couldn't believe what she was hearing and she was almost ready to put the blame on him for it, but she didn't let her anger get the best of her. Why couldn't she get rid of CM Punk once and for all?

"AJ, please. I called you so you'll be prepared for tomorrow when they tell you. And please be professional about it. I don't like this as much as you do."

He was lying and she knew it. "See you tomorrow, Punk." She shook her head and before he had a chance to say anything else, she hung up.

"Morning, babe." She heard Dean's groggy voice from behind her and she quickly turned around to see him stretching out and yawning. He was still tired from yesterday and he didn't even bother to put on any clothes yet. Hell she was still naked and she didn't even realize it until then. "You alright? I heard you shout."

"Oh, sorry about that. And it was nothing; just they called me about tomorrow, that's it." She snapped the cellphone shut and threw it on the table.

"What's next in the CM Punk and AJ love saga?" He sarcastically commented as he went to the fridge for a Bud Light.

"Apparently, I'm going to get engaged tomorrow." She helplessly sighed and waited for his reaction.

"_Oh._" He was taken a bit aback by the writers' decisions and he was amazed at how persistent they were with the storyline. Out of all the storylines they trashed or ended abruptly with no explanation, they seemed to never quit with this one.

* * *

**If you want this story to be a bit long, you need to go through Dean first ;) Tune in for the next chapter!**


	18. Chapter 18

AJ watched Dean as he nervously paced back and forth backstage. It was the following Monday night and he had been agitated ever since she had told him about what was going to go down. She cursed the moment Punk rang her to give her the news. It felt a bit overwhelming, it was just a storyline after all, but Dean seemed to be taking it much worse than she was. That day he never left her sight and she was surprised that he didn't follow her to the bathroom too. Although come to think of it, he would if he could.

"Dean will you calm down? You're making me more nervous than I already am." She desperately tried to reason with him from time to time but he just never listened. She had never seen him this troubled before and it was all because of her getting on screen engaged to CM Punk. She didn't really know why was he making such a big deal out of it, since she's almost always kissing Punk every Monday night and he never seemed to care for that, so why now?

"I don't know why I'm acting this way, believe me. Should I be worried? I feel like I should be worried." He ran a hand through his messy light brown hair and sighed.

"Dean, I really need your support right now, can you just be there for me at least for one minute?" She arranged her hair one last time in her compact mirror and placed it in her makeup bag.

Seeing Dean Ambrose like that didn't help her situation at all. It almost made her feel like she was going to go out there in that ring for the very first time. She looked at him and wished that he could read her mind. Where was her loving supporting boyfriend?

"I'm just… I've got a lot of things going through my head right now, alright?" He sat down on a crate and buried his head in his hands. Is this what jealously felt like? He couldn't believe how emotional he was getting, but he was scared. Scared that after that segment goes down, she'll finally realize that Punk was the right man for her and not just on screen, but off screen also and she'd dump Dean's ass the moment she'd say, 'Yes!' to CM Punk.

His insecurities were finally coming back to haunt him again, and this time he was sure that what he feared the most was going to happen that night. He knew that AJ had never stopped loving Punk, and he could see it in her eyes when she looked at him. She never looked at him like she looked at Punk and he knew it. She might act like she wanted to murder him, but deep down she still had feelings for him and that was what he dreaded the most.

"At least can you tell me that everything is going to be fine? I feel like you're going to be mad at me for something I didn't do and that scares me, Dean. I am freaking out right now and you're not helping!" She tried to reason with him but again, he ignored her. "Some fucking boyfriend you are, I'm out. Don't bother showing up after the segment ends if you're going to be like this." She unzipped her black hoodie and made her way to where the curtain was.

Part of her expected and wished for Dean to follow her and tell her he was sorry, or at least say something to defend his behavior, but he left her walk alone. This wasn't the Dean Ambrose she grew to care about. He would never do such a thing. The guy that usually gave her everything, was basically abandoning her when she needed him the most. He knew how much she hated doing the whole CM Punk love story, yet he always made it look like it was her fault.

She felt herself become teary eyed and she did her best to hold it all in. She didn't want to look like a mess in front of millions of people, he didn't even deserve her tears. Or maybe she deserved it because she never tried to love him. No, no. She shook her head; this was a wrong time to think about stuff like this.

"You alright?" CM Punk came from behind her and gave her a friendly pat on her back.

She jumped and turned around, "Jesus, don't even do that to me again!" She wiped her face as lightly as she could so she wouldn't ruin her foundation and took a deep breath.

"Whoa AJ, chill!" He took a step back and took one look at her, "Are you alright?" He had a look of concern on his face and she just shook her hand in the air dismissing him.

"Look, I know you're with Dean and all and I don't want to trespass, but can we just pull it off like everything else? You know I can't do this without you, AJ." After what went down at Kaitlyn's house about a month ago, he regretted the moment he saw her walking up the cab that night. He still couldn't explain his actions, maybe he wasn't thinking at all. He had to respect her and her personal decisions and he vowed to himself that he wasn't going to bother her ever again. After all, he still wanted to be her friend.

She almost bursted out crying but she just nodded and gave him a weak smile. She wasn't even sure of whether she would be able to talk without crying or not.

"AJ, Punk! You're up!" the director called as he skimmed the script one last time and looked up to them, "Go, now!"

As CM Punk's music hit, he walked up to the small ramp and looked at AJ who was scanning the area for at least one tiny glimpse of Dean, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Punk noticed that AJ wasn't in her place right onto his left side and he looked behind him and sensed that something was troubling her. "You coming?" He gave her an encouraging smile and extended his hand out for her to which she quietly walked up to him and took. Her hand was shaking and he gently squeezed it and looked at her, "You'll do great, I promise."

Of course CM Punk was giving her the support she actually needed from Dean Ambrose; the world just hated her that way. Why did it have to be CM Punk? Couldn't it have been some other random superstar? Oh, but no.

CM Punk's music hit and AJ immediately traded those tears for a big fake smile and went out to meet the bright lights. She could feel everybody's eyes boring holes into her and as she skipped down the ramp, she kept screaming at herself to act natural.

_Stupid Dean Ambrose, they're all the same_, she thought to herself. Dean tried his best to be different from all the other guys she had dated but when it came to the test, he backed out like everybody else. He wasn't even worth it. She wanted to go find him and yell at him and accuse him of being the worst boyfriend ever, but then again, she hadn't been the best girl friend in the world either and somehow she felt that she deserved it. It was too complicated. She felt rejected and guilty at the same time.

She got into the ring and took a microphone into her hands. She gave a small kiss on CM Punk's cheek and gave him a chance to talk until the boos settled down.

"AJ, ignore these people out here and look at me, and look into my eyes." AJ turned around and looked at her on screen boyfriend with so much fake love into his eyes. "This is about you and me and nobody else." He pointed at the crowd which cued in more boos. She nodded with a huge pearly white grin on her face.

He rubbed his beard and nervously rolled his tongue over his lip ring as if he was trying to come up with the right things to say. "I would love to talk about the things that make me fall in love with you every single day, but Raw is only three hours long." He waited for her reaction and then brought his microphone back to his mouth again, "I know we've been together for a number of months now, but AJ, I am not ashamed to say that you have stolen my heart and…" He put his hands into his pockets and took out a small red box.

AJ covered her mouth with her hand in awe as she watched him get on one knee and the crowd started to cheer, "No!, No! No!"

"AJ, I want you to keep my heart forever. It's yours, it belongs to you and if you accept my hand, you'll make me the happiest man on Earth, so AJ, baby," He opened the box to reveal a cheap, plastic diamond ring, "Will you marry me?"

And without giving it any second thought, AJ screamed into the microphone, "Oh my gosh, Punk, yes! Yes! Yes!" and with that, she watched Punk happily slip the ring onto her finger, which to her surprise fitted perfectly. She held her hand high in front of her face and admired how great it looked on her. _If only it were real..._

"She said yes!" Punk yelled and he lifted her up and spun her around. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he stopped turning to look deeply into her eyes.

"I love you." she mouthed and with that she closed her eyes and went in for a deep kiss to seal the deal.

Once they set foot backstage, several superstars and other WWE employees came to congratulate them on pulling their segment off very well. Both CM Punk and AJ were still going through an adrenaline rush and for a moment there, she almost forgot about Dean Ambrose. The director was impressed and he immediately gave them a thumbs up when he saw them before going back to talk on his cell phone. He was always a busy man and AJ admired him for never losing his mind and temper every Monday night.

After they calmed down, CM Punk brought her a bottle of water from the snacks table and they hung around for a while before they hit the showers. It felt a bit weird for both of them to be in each other's company since she was always ready to rip his throat out all the time, but he could feel that she wasn't acting herself that night so he wanted to stay with her until she asked him to leave.

"Told you, you would be great." Punk said with a satisfied look on his face. He was looking at his on screen Mrs. Punk and he was enjoying every single moment of it. If he couldn't have her in real life, at least he knew that she was his in the wrestling world and that gave him some sense of comfort.

"Thank God it's over. I was almost about to piss my pants! That was scary." She twisted the cap of the bottle and downed it in one gulp. "However I really like this 1 dollar ring, you must have spent ages trying to find the perfect ring!" She nudged him in the ribs and looked at her finger.

It was funny how all the things she ever wanted in real life, were only happening to her on screen in the ring. She was getting tired of waiting for the perfect man to come and put a real ring around her finger but the longer she stared at it, the more she felt like it was actually mocking her instead. It was laughing at her because she would never see the day where such an important moment would happen to her in real life.

"It's actually a prop,"he nervously answered her, "But it does look good on you."

She looked up to meet his green eyes that she once fell in love with, and he flashed her a warm smile. He knew that she was down in the dumps and he tried to cheer her up without stepping on any boundaries.

He wrapped his hands around her shoulders and kissed her head. "I know you and I aren't the best of friends anymore, but you know I'll always be there if you want to talk or something." His heart was beating so hard, he felt that it was about to pop right out of his chest. Sure it had been a while since the whole incident at Kaitlyn's house went down but he had fucked up so many times, he was surprised that she was still talking to him in the first place.

AJ was ready to burst out crying at any second but she held back again and took a deep breath. After everything that they had been through, he still insisted on being there in her life. It amazed her how he had never gave up on her. "Thank you Punk, that means a lot to me." She gave him a weak smile and pushed some of her hair behind her ear, "I must go and change now, I'll see you around?"

"You know where to find me." He winked at her and they both made their separate ways to their respective locker rooms.

"Hey, AJ, Dean was looking for you." Alicia quickly informed AJ the moment she stepped into the locker room.

She rolled her eyes the moment she heard his name. _Oh now he wants to talk. "_Where is he now?" She went for her suitcase and searched for a new change of clothes. The bright lights made her sweat into the clothes she was in and she desperately wanted to get them off as soon as possible.

"I don't know, I think he's in the car waiting for you or something, but don't take my word for it. That's what I think I heard him say, anyways." She shrugged her shoulders and turned back to the mirror to continue peeling off her fake eyelashes. All of the divas had to doll themselves up in case there were some last minute changes, but tonight they had to apply and remove their makeup for nothing.

"Ugh, alright. Thanks Alicia." She had no other choice but to go where Dean was because after all, she was still his girlfriend. This must have been their first real fight and she was feeling more upset because she expected more from him. She could have expected this from Daniel Bryan, even CM Punk for that matter, but not Dean Ambrose. But nobody's perfect, this could have happened to anybody else, right? Well, anybody who suffered from severe bad luck.

She put everything back into her suitcase and headed out for the parking lot. She said her goodbyes as she tried to remember where he had parked his car.

When she exited the building she spotted his car immediately and she could see Dean's figure in the driver's seat smoking a cigarette. He knew she hated it when he smoked in the car. He must have done it on purpose as a way to get back at her.

Dean watched AJ make her way to their car and he nervously dragged on his 5th cigarette and breathed out the smoke from his nose and mouth. He had fucked up and he was scared as hell to face her after what he had done. He felt guilty that he did such a childish thing when he vowed to himself that he would be a man and treat her properly. He never wanted to be another Daniel or another CM Punk. He wanted to be different from all the other guys she had previously dated before and now he was like all of the rest. He felt like garbage.

She opened the back door and tossed her suitcase roughly and slammed it shut. She opened the passenger door and she got in. "How many fucking times do I have to tell you not to smoke in the car?" She lifted her legs up and rested them against the dashboard.

"It's my car." He kept his focus on the elevator that led to the building on the other side of the parking lot. He was scared to look at her as if she'd turn him to stone once he'd make eye contact with her.

She couldn't believe her ears. This definitely wasn't the Dean Ambrose she was living with. "Are you kidding me right now?! Why are you so jealous! I went out there, did my job and came back. Why are you doing this to me?" Her voice was cracking but she tried to keep her composure, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her crying.

"You still love Punk, don't you AJ?" He started to blow smoke rings from his mouth, took one last drag and threw the cigarette out of the window.

"Whoa! Where did that come from? If I loved him so much then why am I here with you, huh?"

"It's not about the segment, AJ, you could have married a million men out there, I don't care. Have you ever noticed how you look at that man, AJ? You have never looked at me like that, no matter how much I try to give you everything that you want or need, you'll never love me like you love Punk. Admit it." As much as he wanted to look like a tough man, he couldn't help but let his eyes get watery. He didn't care, she was the only one that could see him like this.

_She must think I'm a wuss_, he thought to himself.

"If you honestly think that then I feel sorry for you, because during these last 8 months you didn't even bother to get to know me at all. If you knew me, you would never think that." She crossed her arms and shook her head. She felt offended that he would think such a thing.

"I know you, no in fact, I know you too well AJ, because I even know that you purposefully made yourself hate him just to ignore your feelings for him. I was never yours to begin with, and you used me just to try and forget about him. No matter how much he fucks up, you'll always love him and I just happened to be there when you tried to move on."

"Dean that's crazy talk! I know I haven't been giving my all into this relationship, but it doesn't mean that I don't care about us! Dean, I want to be with you," she tried to reason with him but he just shook his head and looked down at his steering wheel. "What you did back there was the worst thing you could have ever done to me but if you're going to do what I think you're doing, you're gonna regret it because your own insecurities are going to cost us our relationship."

Dean swallowed the ball he had forming in his throat and took a deep breath. He wasn't prepared to say what he was about to say and it took him a couple of minutes to get the courage to open his mouth. She waited for his reply in silence.

"AJ…" he finally turned around to look at her beautiful face. He could already see the tears in her eyes and he couldn't believe that he was the one causing them this time, "I think, its best if we took some time off, I think it's the best for us to see what we really want."

AJ shook her head in disbelief and let all the hot tears roll freely down her cheeks, "No, Dean, please. Are you breaking up with me?" She clasped her hand on her mouth, as her whole body began to tremble.

"No, what I'm saying is that we need a break. Don't you agree?" He was seconds away from crying himself, but he bit onto his bottom lip almost drawing blood just to hold back the tears.

"No I don't fucking agree because I want to be with you!"

"AJ, please…" he ran a hand through his messy hair and took a deep shaky breath.

"But what will happen to us?"

"I don't know, for now I need to be on my own to think and you should do the same too. We both need to see what we really want in life. A break will help us, AJ… hopefully."

AJ took a couple of seconds to let everything sink in. "If a break is what you really want, then I can't hold you against your will." And without giving him a chance to reply, she opened the car door and stepped out. She took out her suitcase from the back and continued, "I'll be back to get the rest of my stuff in the morning." And with that she slammed the door shut and started to walk away.

As she made her way back inside the building, she desperately wanted him to get out and run after her, but her hopes were immediately tarnished when she heard the car engine roaring to life and within a few seconds, Dean was out of sight.

She stopped at her tracks and turned around to look at an empty parking lot. She was alone, again. She couldn't believe out of all people, Dean was capable of doing such a thing to her. He betrayed her, he promised he would never hurt her and he let her down during one of her biggest nights of her career. Maybe this was his plan all along; he wanted to find some excuse to get rid of her as quickly as he could and his plan had worked.

She walked back to the building, not really sure of what she was doing or where she was going for that matter. She didn't want to go back to the locker room because she would get bombarded with questions and she didn't like to socialize with the divas a lot, especially about her personal life.

She kept walking with no specific direction until a light bulb went off inside her head. His last words came back echoing in her ears. If she wanted to see him, she'd know where to find him and after a few minutes, she stood there in front of his door. She dropped her suitcase by her side and knocked three times.


	19. Chapter 19

Seth woke up to someone banging loudly on his front door. He sat up on his bed, and listened closely to check if he was still dreaming or not. The banging started again and he had already pictured himself being attack by some guy with a gun if he were to open the door. He was a fan of watching action movies, but he didn't like it when the events happened to him, especially tonight, or shall I say, this morning as Seth looked at his alarm clock and it read 1.30 AM.

He got up from the bed and put on his boxers since he was all alone and he felt like sleeping in the nude. He remembered where he hid his gun just in case and slowly walked out of his bedroom and near the front door. He could take someone out with his own bare hands, but knowing he owned a weapon made him feel more secure.

"Who is it?" Seth raised his voice just enough so the person on the other side could hear him. He wasn't ready to open up to some stranger at this time of night.

"It's me, Dean. Open up, will ya?"

At the sound of Dean's voice, Seth calmed down and sighed out loud, "You had me fucking scared as shit, you idiot." He immediately greeted Dean as he opened the door. "It's almost 2 in the morning, this better be good."

Dean started to pace back and forth in a great state of panic, "I fucked up, Seth, I lost AJ." He didn't waste any time to beat about the bush as he ran his hands through his hair and started to pull it out. He finally sat down on the couch and began to rock back and forth. "I let her go, Seth!"

"Wait, what? What the hell happened?" He turned on the lights and sat down near his friend who he had never seen him like this before. He always knew Dean as a chilled and laid back kind of guy.

"I got fucking jealous and I confronted her about Punk. I'm such an asshole, and you were right. I'm not really relationship material because it didn't take me long to fuck everything up! What do I do, Seth?" He looked at his friend with pleading eyes and Seth was just lost for words. He liked his friendship with Dean because he knew that he would never find himself in situations like these, but here he was trying to find the right words to tell his best friend.

Dean wasn't lying, Seth still thought that he wasn't the boyfriend type and he almost thought that he had proved him wrong, yet here he was crying his eyes out because of a girl. Seth 1: Dean 0.

They had been acquaintances for a number of years now, and they always had some small talk when they crossed paths at some indie show, but ever since they started working with the same company, their relationship started to grow and they always considered each other as brothers.

Seth went over to the fridge and opened up a cold one. He didn't want to offer Dean anything because he already smelled like cigarettes and booze and although he seemed to be right in his senses, he didn't want to babysit a drunken, depressed 28 year old man, especially at 2 in the morning.

Seth took a moment to find the right words, but he was failing miserably. "Dean, you know I'm not really good with stuff like this, as much as I like to help you." He scratched his 1 week old beard and went to sit on the coffee table right in front of Dean. He wanted to hug him but he wasn't the hugging type either. He hated himself for not being fully there for his best friend but he couldn't help himself, it was just the way he was.

"Look I'm no fucking expert in relationships, and I think you already know why, but why are you here when you could be fixing things with AJ right now?" He was trying to be logical in this situation, because he was sure as hell wasn't going to tell him that everything was going to be fine. He didn't like to put his hopes up if nothing good happens.

"Because I told her I wanted a break, and the worst part is that she got out of my car and I'm fucking sure she went to Punk after that. I just know it. She's also coming tomorrow to pick up her things. What do I do?!" Dean fumbled for his packet of cigarettes and lighter from his pockets and quickly lighted one up. He took a deep drag and closed his eyes. Nicotine was his therapy; no matter how many times people have told him that they were bad for him. They were his drugs.

Seth wasn't going to comment on the smell, because he knew that his friend needed something to calm his nerves down. "Don't let your head get the best of you, but if she really comes by tomorrow to get her stuff, you have a chance to get her back. Just don't fuck it up with stupid made up accusations. That's my suggestion, at least." Seth shrugged his shoulder and took another gulp. Maybe he could give relationship advice after all. He might as well be referred to Dr. Seth from now on.

A smile almost crept up on his face but he quickly changed his train of thought and went back to focus on his troubled friend.

Dean took a moment to figure his plan out and started to slowly nod. "I'm going to get her back tomorrow even if it's the last thing I do. Thanks, I owe you one, man." Dean took one last drag and put his cigarette out using the ash tray that was right on the coffee table next to Seth.

Seth was quite pleased with himself, "Not a problem. Hey, if you wanna crash here tonight, by all means."

"Thanks, but I've got get back to the apartment. I will try to get her back, but if things don't go the way I want them to go, I still need to have her stuff prepared just in case." He got up from the couch and straightened his shirt out.

"Okay, do what you have to do. If you need anything, just call or come over." He got up and patted his friend on his back. He couldn't get over the fact that he actually gave someone advice and they took it.

Dean watched the sun come up from his balcony as he sipped his mug of coffee and smoked another cigarette. His ashtray was almost full by now. He didn't get an eye shut throughout the whole night and he wondered for hours where did AJ go to sleep. He tried to cheer himself up by thinking that she rented some room for the night and didn't spend it cuddled up with her tattooed ex.

He had raided his apartment from top to bottom to find anything that belonged to her. Every single thing that he found, whether it was a small hair clip or a pink hair band, he smiled to himself and thought about their good times. He couldn't help himself when he collected her shampoos but to open one of the bottles and inhale the sweet smell of strawberries. Why did he let her go?

Those thoughts that kept on haunting him everyday finally took over, and they won without a fight. He got so caught up in his own jealously, that he blamed it all on his girlfriend and AJ had every reason to not take his sorry ass back. It was going to be long shot.

As the warmth of the sun hit his bare chest, he knew that it looked like it was going to be a very beautiful day. The birds started to sing and he could already see a butterfly fluttering around searching for some flowers. He could've taken AJ out today, maybe pack some lunch and head for the beach but he couldn't, because he wanted a break.

A break.

He hated himself for it, what the hell is a break? Did he honestly think that they were going to spend some time apart, and then they get back together like everything's all sunshine and daisies? Much to his dismay, he knew that things weren't going to go like that.

He put his most probably tenth cigarette out and checked the time from his phone. It was 8AM and he knew that AJ would be coming around some time that morning and he had to mentally prepare himself for it. He thought about all the things that he could say to her, but as much as he tried, he wasn't making any sense so he thought that he'd just wing it and see where it takes him.

He finally got up from the chair he was sitting on and decided to go and take a shower. He had to get rid of the smell of cigarettes if he was going to plead with AJ. He knew how much she hated the smell and the taste of cigarettes on him, and as much as he was going to try to scrub out the smell, she will still be able to detect it.

He wanted to look at least half decent when she came, and he certainly didn't want her to see him in the current state that he was. Wearing nothing but shorts, greasy hair and smelling like a chimney was sure as hell not going to help him get AJ back.

As the clock read 11 o'clock, Dean started to get worried that she wasn't going to come back to collect her things. He spent the whole night and morning tearing himself apart for a no show and everything that he thought about doing and saying seemed like all for nothing.

A few minutes later he heard a knock on his door and he shot up from his couch and started to panic. He knew it was AJ because he could identify her knock in some weird way. He took a deep breath and looked in the mirror to check himself out. He couldn't really see why she would accept his sorry ass back, but it wasn't the right time for self hate and he had to focus on his little mission.

He cleared his throat and after taking another deep breath, he twisted the knob and opened the door. As he looked at her, he immediately wanted to hug her and lift her up, tell her he was sorry but he couldn't. She looked so beautiful, it broke his heart that she wasn't his anymore. Her luscious curls were hanging freely around her shoulders and she was wearing those pair of jeans that drove him crazy. Maybe she did it on purpose, so she could show him what he had lost but he knew that AJ didn't play games like that.

She stood there with sweaty palms and her heart wanted to beat right out of her chest. She immediately wanted to cry as she caught the first glimpse of her former boyfriend, but she bit the inside of her cheeks to remain steady and calm instead.

They both stared at each other for the longest 3 seconds of their lives and she broke the silence by saying, "I, uh… came to pick up my stuff?"

Those words hit him like a bullet to the heart and he knew that she didn't have any plans to mend the pieces back together like he hoped they would. "Yeah, sure come in."

"I see you already got my stuff." She muttered as she saw the little box on the table. She could notice how he had the time to neatly fold her little tops that she had left lying around his apartment. "Wanted to get rid of me that easily, huh?"

Guess picking up her stuff wasn't the only thing on her mind, because she looked like she was prepared for a war of words. She wanted to tell him everything that she had on her chest, and she wanted to give him a piece of her mind after what went down the other night. How dare he accuse her of such claims? He had no right and he knew it. They were together for almost a year and he had the nerve to tell her that she still loved CM Punk.

"AJ, don't start that BS with me. I only did it to save you the trouble of going through this hell hole of apartment. If you think there's something missing just tell me."

She peeped inside the box and sarcastically smiled, "Nope, everything's all there!" She grabbed the box from the sides and continued, "Guess I'll be going then."

She wanted to punch him in the face but she thought about her job. Ain't no man worth losing her career in the WWE.

Dean's heart felt like he just took a part in a 24hr marathon, but he wasn't going to let her sarcastic comments get to him. She was still angry at him and he couldn't blame her. "AJ…" he took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, "What I did yesterday was by far the worst thing I have ever done in my life. I vowed to myself to never hurt you like others did-"

"But you did, you're just like all the other men I have ever dated, Dean. I really actually believed that you were going to be different. I know things never last forever, but I have never thought out of all people, you could do something like that to end it all."

A sense of tranquility came over her and she wasn't angry anymore. She was glad that she was tackling this issue like an adult. Another reason why Dean was different from all the other men, he didn't bring the crazy AJ out and she was thankful for that. There was no drama, but just two people arguing about their relationship.

Dean bit his lip at AJ's words, and he bowed his head and looked at the floor in guilt. She was right and there was no point is trying to pick out little details here and there just so he could win the argument. There was nothing to criticize.

"Where did you sleep last night?" He couldn't help himself but blurt that question out; after all he was still worried about her well being.

She wanted to tell him that she was out with Punk, and that they later went back to his place just so she could get back at him, but all she could remember was Punk holding her as she cried her eyes out about Dean. "I went to some motel."

His eyes immediately widened and a look of worry showed on his face, "I hope nothing bad happened."

"Nope, just my boyfriend dumping me after what might be the biggest nights of my career."

"I said it was a break."

She casually shrugged her shoulders, "Break, break up, it's the same thing in my book."

He let out a small groan of frustration, and he felt like lighting a cigarette up but he couldn't. He ran his hands through his hair and stared into her eyes for a number of seconds.

She felt very self conscious and she immediately diverted her focus on anything but him, "What?"

He had to tell her, he had to say it, even if she didn't accept his apology, at least he could say that he tried to do anything he could. "AJ…" he started, as he shifted his weight from one leg to another, "I know it's too early for this and you're still hurting but," He rubbed his stubble that he forgot to shave and continued, "I truly am sorry for what I did. I am not ashamed to say that my jealousy and anger got the best of me and I lashed out on you. I don't want a break or a break up for that matter, but I think I have fucked up too much for you to give me what I really want."

He was such an honest man, she thought to herself, as tears started to well up in her eyes. She slowly shook her head as the first tear of many slid down her cheek. "If you don't want a break or a break up, then why did you say you wanted one yesterday? I can't have you saying things in the heat of the moment when we're fighting. Only God knows what you're capable of saying if we ever get to fight again in the future."

"You're right."

"You're right? That's it? What am I going to do with, 'You're right." Huh? I know I haven't been given you my all, but yesterday you truly fucking hurt me, Dean and I'm still not over it. I have never said this, and this is without a doubt the _worst_ time ever to say it, but I loved you, and when you said those things yesterday, it was like taking a knife and sticking it right into my back because you betrayed me, Dean. I told you time and time again, Punk and I are just friends, and sure we had our past but you don't have any right to judge me for that."

Dean's heart skipped a beat as he realized that she used the word 'love' in the past tense. His own eyes started to get teary eyed as well and he couldn't help himself but sniffle here and there. "I still want to be with you, AJ."

She put the box back down on the table and licked her lips. She stared at the contents and shook her head. "Believe it or not, I still want to be with you too Dean, but…" She looked up to meet his pale blue eyes. "Somehow, I'm finally agreeing on that break you suggested."

He nodded in defeat and slipped his hands down his pockets. He found some change and started to roll the coins between his fingers. "It's that's really, uh, what you want."

There was no point in begging or pleading, he'd only make himself look like a weak little man. She had made up her mind and he had to respect her decision.

"Honestly Dean? No, it isn't what I want, but I think it's what we need for this relationship." She went up to him and hugged him, yet he didn't move any muscle. "We can work this out if you want to, but it's all up to you." She whispered into his ear as she let go.

She gave him a quick kiss on his cheek and he closed his eyes at the touch of her soft lips, "Maybe time is really what we need."

He desperately wanted to curl his hands around her small waist and hug her closely to his chest and kiss her head, but he couldn't. All he could do is watch her pick up her box of things again and head for the door, "I'll see you around, Dean." And he watched the woman he once loved dearly walk out of the door.

The moment AJ closed the door she finally let herself cry her eyes out, and she didn't care if anyone walking or driving by saw her. She dragged her feet down the street as she continued to wipe away the tears with her sleeve, while holding her box under her other arm. That almost felt hard just as much as it did when she told CM Punk that they were better off friends. Why did she always have to let go of the people that she loved dearly?

If she never really told Dean that she loved him, she knew that she felt it or else she wouldn't be crying. Or maybe she was just too over emotional, she didn't know herself. Maybe it was a mix of both, but all she knew was that she hated feeling like this. After CM Punk, she never knew that she could go through something like that again, and here she was with guy number 2 (Daniel didn't count) and everything was repeating itself in a twisted sort of way. Maybe it was a curse she was born with.

She stopped at her tracks and took out her phone. She dialed the number she always called when in trouble and hit the 'call' button.

"Hey love, what's up?" she heard the familiar voice on the other line.

"Kate… I need you." She started sobbing again and all Kaitlyn could hear were muffled noises through the phone, but she knew that AJ was crying.

"Where are you? I'm coming right now." Kaitlyn turned the TV off and grabbed her car keys.

"I'm near Dean's place."

"Stay there, I'll be there in a few minutes."

* * *

**I know I keep on taking a while to update from one chap to another, and I am thankful that I still get messages on here and on Tumblr asking about when's the next chapter coming out. If I were you, I would be like, 'to hell with her and her story!', but you guys chose to stick around and for that I'd really like to say a big thank you! Stay tuned! :)**


	20. Chapter 20

The lovely man in a black cheap tuxedo showed her the main bedroom which had a balcony that offered the most amazing view of some countryside. It was the fifth place she had visited that week, and none of them had caught her eye the way this one did. It had everything she wanted and needed, and best of all it was right in her price range.

"So what do you think, Miss Lee?" The man finally turned around to his costumer, as he finished giving her the tour of the apartment.

"I might be rushing into this, but I just fell in love with this place immediately. I'm going to take it." She flashed him one of her pearly white smiles to which he gladly returned back.

"If you have made up your mind, then we can settle with some papers and this place will be yours in no time." He opened the file he was carrying around in his arm and took out some papers. He clicked his pen and started to scribble down something.

"Now just one last question…" He said as he kept on writing. "Are you going to rent it out or buy it?" He finally looked up to meet with AJ's eyes, and waited for her response.

She nodded and clasped her hands together in satisfaction, "Definitely buy it."

AJ was ecstatic that she finally got a place of her own. There were no more hotel rooms, no more motels, no more crashing at Kaitlyn's or somebody else's house if they offered. AJ now was an independent young woman.

She didn't know why it took her so long, or why did she ever avoid her search for a place in the first place. It was like she was scared of being alone, but now she was already imagining herself running around the house in her undies, rocking out to a song from the 80's. She knew that the place still needed a lot to really look like a home, but she had to start from somewhere, and she was glad that she had finally taken that first step today.

Kaitlyn had accompanied her to see all of the other apartments that week, but on that day she had scheduled a thing with Ziggler and she had to bail out, leaving AJ all by herself. Her initial reaction when she heard the news, was that of being scared. Kaitlyn seemed to know all the right questions to ask and always pin pointed the good and the bad things that the apartments had in them and now that AJ was alone, she didn't know if she could do the same without her. Luckily enough, the apartment she was viewing looked perfect and even if Kaitlyn said otherwise, she would still have bought it anyway.

The following week, Kaitlyn and AJ had planned to go out and shop for some decorations for her new apartment. They had two days off and luckily AJ had Kaitlyn all for herself since Ziggler was overseas on tour. She had already set her mind to buy some comic book related pictured frames, some new curtains and a lot of groceries. She almost found it too weird to be doing this sort of thing, since she had always lived out of her suitcases. Now she didn't have to carry all those bags with her anymore, which was a relief… to her and to the people who had to help her carry them.

"You should have a house warming party." Kaitlyn suggested, as she was skimming the shelves for something that could potentially catch her eye. She got sucked into the buying frenzy and wanted to buy something for her own house. She had nothing specific in mind.

"And invite who? Dean and Punk?" AJ stopped to look at Kaitlyn and raised her eyebrows.

"Oh come on." Kaitlyn shrugged AJ's sarcastic comment off and continued, "I mean like have a small gathering of some sort, I don't know. Ooh! I can make sandwiches!"

AJ shook her head and laughed, "Kate, forget it. "

Her best friend sighed, and continued to look at some small figurines, "You're no fun."

"Never heard that one before." AJ muttered under her breath and rolled her eyes. She shifted the shopping basket from one hand to another, and bent down to look at a small figurine of a pug. "What do you think about this? It's so cute!"

With one look Kaitlyn snorted, "That ugly little thing? You seriously have money to waste, dear girl. Put it right back where it was."

AJ pouted and did as what she was told, "Yes mom!"

Kaitlyn shook her head, and continued to walk down the aisle as AJ followed, "So what's been going on in the AJ love saga now? It's been like forever since you mentioned almost anything."

"There's nothing much to say really. I have been avoiding Dean for about 2 months now, and I'm doing a great job of that. I'm still married on screen to CM Punk, yet we seemed to have nothing in common anymore when the cameras are off." AJ suddenly felt down again when she was reminded about how boring and lifeless her love life was becoming. Part of her was glad that she was alone so she wouldn't have to deal with emotional problems, but the other part of her wished to have someone hold her during the night.

It was sort of surreal to AJ. She didn't have anything going on in her life anymore, and she almost missed it. It was like the only way her life was the slightest of interesting, was if the drama was involved in some way or another. All there was left to do was hire a crew to follow her around with cameras. She'd make a hit reality TV show, no matter how much she hated them.

She would sometimes feel like picking up the phone and call Dean, but she did not want to fall back into the same situation she was in before. If circumstances weren't the way they were, she would actually date the living hell out of him and give him everything she never gave him, but that was never going to happen. Thanks to her.

"So that's it, huh?"

"Pretty much." Suddenly she didn't feel like shopping anymore. Their basket was almost full up and they had already three full shopping carts worth of stuff already bought in Kaitlyn's car. She was done for the day and they both went to pay their items and leave.

AJ started to memorize her script the following Monday night, as she played with the edges of the papers, bending them back and forth. She was already in her wrestling gear, but she was wearing an over sized WWE jacket that almost fit like a dress. It was freezing cold backstage and luckily enough, someone handed it to her when she complained about how cold the building was.

She was set up to have a mixed tag team match with CM Punk, and they were going to cut a promo right before the match. She had asked the writers when they were going to drop the angle, but they seemed to be on a roll and divorcing Punk wasn't a choice they were planning on taking. Sometimes, she liked being Punk's onscreen girlfriend. If her life was boring, her wrestling character had a lot more going on and she was almost jealous of herself in a weird way.

"Good luck out there." She heard a familiar voice, and she immediately shot up to see if the person she had in mind matched the voice. Dean was standing right in front of AJ and he looked like a nervous wreck. She briefly wanted to think that it was because of her he was acting like that, just to make herself feel better.

He had been thinking about talking to her the whole weekend, and as Monday night crept on him, he felt like he was about to have a heart attack. He had never felt this nervous in his life, not even when he'd go out there to wrestle did he ever feel the way he was feeling at that current moment. Not talking to her was driving him crazy, and as much as he wanted to move on, none of the girls he went with could match with AJ Lee. She had his heart and he didn't really want to take it back.

"Hey Dean, um, thanks." She tried so hard to pretend that she didn't want to get up, hug him and never let him go. She still found him very handsome, and although his hair was still wet because of the match he had earlier, he was almost turning her on. She still wanted him.

He ran a hair through his messy hair and looked at AJ. How could he let her go? He could be holding her while she'd look at her script right about now, but no, he had to abandon her when she needed him the most. He could have given her all of his warmth, and not that stupid over sized jacket. He remembered how much she hated sweat, and she would most probably tell him to go shower first before he even tried to touch her. He missed the way she'd get all fussy about his sweat.

He was trying to find the right words to say, but all those lines he rehearsed right before he went up to her were all forgotten. He was a hopeless case. "So, everything's alright?" He managed to say and he felt foolish.

"Everything's just peachy!" She shrugged her shoulders and gave him a weak smile. She wanted to tell him that everything was great but none if it was, and he could already tell with the sound of her voice so there was no point in lying. "How about yourself?"

He shifted his weight from one leg to another and took a deep breath, "Same old, same old, I guess." He nodded and returned the weak smile.

"Hey AJ, we're up in 5. You ready?" She heard another familiar voice, and she caught a glimpse of Dean rolling his eyes when he saw CM Punk all ready and pumped up for Raw. "'Sup, Dean?"

"Hey Punk. Uh, I'll catch you later, AJ?" Dean was backing away slowly. He almost felt threatened by Punk's presence, and he didn't particularly like being in the same area as he was. He always felt those 'I told you so' vibes from Punk, as if he wanted to tell him that he knew him and AJ were never going to last.

"Yeah, sure. Take care Dean." She waved at him and watched him go until he disappeared out of sight. She kept hearing Punk's voice in the background, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. She was too caught up in thinking about Dean, and how miserable it was making her. Why was life this cruel?

"So do you like my plan?" She finally managed to hear. She shook her head to think straight again, and gave Punk a quizzical look. "What?"

"Have you been listening to a word I've said, AJ?" Punk put his hands on his hips and glared at AJ. He knew that she was still thinking about Dean, and it was making his blood boil with envy. What did Dean have that he didn't? He was trying his best to distract her, yet she was ignoring everything that he was saying.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Go over everything with me again. I'll pay attention this time." She managed to put Dean right to the back of her mind, so she could focus on delivering a great performance that was due in a couple of minutes.

As the bell rang, the referee raised both CM Punk's and AJ's hands to show the world that they were victorious against their opponents. They had their kissing ritual after the match, and AJ did her best to enjoy it while it lasted. Hey, it had been a while since AJ had really kissed a guy (not on screen), and she almost felt sad that he didn't kiss like Dean did. She had to settle for what she had.

CM Punk almost looked at her as if he wanted to ask her what was that about, but she managed to ignore it and pretend that she didn't get what he was trying to tell her. He brushed it off and continued to do his job until they went behind the curtain.

"Great match out there, you guys. You never disappoint me!" the director congratulated them on another smooth performance, and they went to get some water to cool themselves down.

Punk thought about asking her about the kiss, but he just felt stupid for thinking like it had meant something else. He had a habit of not telling between acting and real life apart when it came to AJ's kisses, and he certainly did not want to go down that road again. He knew she'd just tell him that he was imagining things, and they would end up going back and forth until one of them got tired of arguing.

"Hey Punk," AJ took another gulp of water and without giving him a chance to speak up, she continued,"So I finally got a place of my own, and I was wondering if you and Kofi want to hang out sometime this week? I'm having a house warming party, and there's going to be Kate and Ziggler too, and maybe some others, I don't know yet."

She couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. She had never done something this spontaneous, and she was hoping that for once, it would not blow right up in her face.

Punk was caught a bit off guard, as he too couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. He briefly thought it over; not giving his ego a chance to increase by the second, and he nodded and said, "I don't see why not." He shrugged his shoulders and winked at her, "Tell me when and where and we'll be there." He patted her on her back, tossed a towel over his shoulder and walked away to his locker room.

A smile immediately formed on AJ's lips, but it was quickly erased when she remembered that she had to actually throw a house warming party now. She had no idea what a house warming party was, and what it really actually consisted of. She felt foolish and dumb as a rock. Did she have to prepare some food, or some activities? Only one person could help her out.

"Hey Kate, I need you to throw me a house warming party because I have no freaking clue on how to throw one. Preferably by this week, and Kofi and Punk are coming. "AJ managed to say the second she saw Kaitlyn in the divas locker room.

"Slow down girl, I thought you didn't want to have a house warming party? And CM Punk again? Really?" Kaitlyn put her hands on her hips and eyed AJ up and down.

AJ rolled her eyes at the thought of CM Punk's name was the only thing that caught her attention. "I just invited Punk out of the blue, and now we need to throw one. And Kofi's coming so don't you dare go there!"

"I am not going anywhere with this honey, most probably you are, however, in the bedroom." Kaitlyn nudged AJ with her elbow and started to laugh. "Oh, sometimes I crack myself up!"

"Why am I even friends with you?"

"Because I'm going to throw you the best house warming party ever. Now I don't need you to do anything, leave it all up to me! When are we going to do it?" Kaitlyn clasped her hands together, and waited eagerly for AJ to give her all the details so she could start planning. She loved having little missions of her own to accomplish, and despite AJ refusing to have one in the beginning, she had already planned everything out in her head. It was going to be amazing.

"I don't know, Friday maybe? I have to check with Punk if Kofi and him are off that day, and oh, should I invite somebody else?" AJ tapped her index finger on her lips, trying to figure out which of the divas would she even dare to invite.

"Are you talking about Dean?"

"Shit, I forgot about Dean!" AJ clasped a hand on her mouth, finally remembering that he had talked to her prior to her match. Just over an hour ago she was thinking how much she wanted to jump his bones, and here she was inviting Punk first to her house warming party.

Hell, if it wasn't for Dean's help, she would have never got up from her ass and bought a place of her own in the first place. He was the one who offered her a home when she was supposedly trying to find a place and now he wasn't even going to be invited?

"Cancel the party." AJ immediately said without giving it a second thought.

"What? Are you out of your mind?" Kaitlyn wished she could open AJ's head and see what was inside. Part of her was curious; the other was scared.

"I am inviting Punk but not Dean? That's fucked up, Kaitlyn. Don't tell me it isn't." AJ ran a hand through her tangled hair and sighed out loud.

"Then invite Dean too." Kaitlyn crossed her hands on her chest and waited for AJ to answer. She was going to throw that house warming party even if it was the last thing she'd do. Once she set her mind to things, there was no going back, and AJ wasn't going to take her house warming party planning away from her.

"Sure, get both of my exes in the same house; let's see how fun that would be!" AJ was aware that Punk and Dean weren't the best of friends. While they appreciated each other's work in the ring, outside not that much. The only thing in common they had was AJ herself, and she didn't want to be caught up in another love triangle again.

"Look, I am in charge of the food and decorations. You are in charge of the invites. It's your apartment, you choose on who you want to come and not come. Simple as that." Kaitlyn didn't want to meddle with AJ's love life, and although she didn't help her as much as AJ hoped she would, she was fed up of telling her to follow her heart. AJ should have learned that by now, and she wasn't going to be there to remind her every time. She wasn't a baby anymore.

"Well I can't now just uninvited Punk, besides if I don't tell Dean he's never going to know. It's not like Punk will tell him or something." AJ was thinking aloud to herself and judging from Kaitlyn's reaction, she was none too happy with her best friend's way of thinking.

"Stop looking at me like that! I'm trying to figure it out, alright!" AJ lifted her arms in defense and Kaitlyn just shook her head at the brunette diva. She hated it when Kaitlyn gave her that look. That look meant that AJ could do better than that. It meant that she could easily avoid trouble if she used her head well, but AJ always had to have someone push her to reach her conclusions, however this time she was on her own. She had to come up with the right idea without anyone giving her a boost.

After thinking hard for a minute or two, a light bulb went off on top of AJ's head. She had come up with just the thing to avoid that bump in the road. "Kaitlyn, I finally got it! Okay, you take care of decorations and food and anything else, I have to go and find Dean and Punk!"

"Whoa, whoa, wait just a second!" Kaitlyn immediately pulled on AJ's arm to stop her from reaching the locker room door. "What are you going to do?"

AJ walked up to look up straight into Kaitlyn eyes, and with a smile on her face she answered, "You're in charge of the decorations and not the invites! See ya laters, Kate!" She flashed her her signature white pearly smile, freed herself from Kaitlyn's grip and happily skipped out of the locker room.

For a moment there Kaitlyn felt like she was in a backstage segment with crazy AJ, but there were no cameras rolling and no director screaming from behind his script. She was proud that AJ was finally taking matters into her own hands, but it also worried her because AJ had never done such a thing in her life. She decided to follow her gut instinct and let AJ do this on her own just this once. If things backfired, she'll be there to pick up the pieces and make everything better again.

She took out a notepad and a pen from her bag and started to write a list of all the things that she wanted to make the house warming party a hit. She had already thought of a couple of themes, but she knew that AJ would want something simple and on the down low, so she crossed out the Fiesta theme off the list. She snorted at the image of AJ Lee sporting a mustache and an over sized Mexican hat.

AJ ran down the corridor in search of her ex boyfriend, Dean Ambrose. She wasn't going to lie; she wasn't going to hide behind anyone this time. If she was going to have a house warming party, everybody was going to be invited, everybody that is CM Punk and Dean Ambrose. Yes, she was going to invite both of them and she was going to tell the truth. She would do the right thing of inviting them both, and then it was up to them if they want to show up or not. It was a simple, yet perfect plan and no one was going to get hurt.

"Hey Dean!" she shouted from down the corridor. He was talking to somebody from the NXT roster and he quickly gave the guy a pat on the shoulder, and walked down the corridor to meet AJ half way. He loved it how her curls bounced when she ran down to meet up with him.

"Hey AJ, what's going on?" Dean had no clue about why AJ wanted to see him, and what on earth did she have to tell him that looked like it couldn't wait. He wondered if he did something wrong, but all he did was wish her good luck earlier, and that was the only interaction they had for the past two months. He was intrigued.

"So I finally got a place of my own…" AJ started but she was immediately cut off with Dean exclaiming, "Oh, _finally_!"

"Shut up!" She lightly slapped his arm and waved her hand in the air, "Anyways! I'm going to throw a house warming party, most probably this Friday, and I'm going to invite a bunch of people, and I hope you can be one of them?" She said the last part in one breath, in the hopes that he could make it.

Dean was happy that she was finally acting her normal self again. He always loved to see her smile and being just all around positive. She could easily light a room up with her glorious smile. "Friday, huh?" He rubbed his one week old stubble and went through his scheduled events and meetings in his head.

"What is there a problem?" AJ's smile immediately faded away and she was starting to worry that a lot of the people she had thought of inviting were going to back out, such as Dean himself.

"I don't think so, but I might run a little bit late, hope that's okay with you." He gave her a small smile; in the hopes of seeing those lines of tension on her forehead go away.

"Oh, that's nothing. If you come even just for a minute, it would be great." She caught herself with her hand on his arm as she looked into his eyes. He looked down at her hands and up to her. She removed her hands right away and took a step back. "Sorry about that." She felt her face flush with a nice shade of red.

"Don't worry about it." He nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Okay, uhm, there's just one thing." She started to play with her fingers, and she suddenly felt the urge to bite all of her fingernails off. This was going to be nerve wrecking.

"What?" He licked his lips and waited for AJ to answer. _She had always liked that tongue of his._ She closed her eyes and slowly shook her head to think straight.

"Since it's a house warming party, I wanted to invite a bunch of people, and one of them is Punk. I hope that won't be a problem to you?" His face read a blank expression, and she knew that he was never expecting that. Not even in a million years.

"Huh." He was taken a bit aback and he nodded, "It's your party, you invite whoever you want." He had no say on the invites; she was free to do whatever she pleased, even if it went against his better judgment.

"So you'll still come?" She gave him a weak smile, hoping for the best.

"I am not promising anything, but I just might pop in the last minute." She could tell that he was not pleased with her decision and he almost looked hurt. It was not the answer she wanted to hear but it was better than getting a disappointing 'No'.

"Well then, I'll just hope to see you there. I'll text you all the details and location later, okay?"

"Sure thing, AJ." He slipped his hands down his pockets and looked at her. She felt like he wanted to tell her something, but he was holding himself back, or maybe it was her imagination.

She waved bye at Dean, and she went in search of CM Punk to do the same thing she did with Dean. He too was caught a bit off guard, but he was not going to back out if he had already told her that he'd be there. He had already fucked up way too many times to let her down again. It was going to be her day, and he was not going to ruin it.

As AJ recruited back to her locker room, she found Kaitlyn still with a notepad and a pen in her hands writing and sorting her lists out. She gave her an accomplished smile and only said one thing, "Done!"

"Done? What do you mean done?" Kaitlyn tore off the page she was writing on and crumpled it in a ball of frustration. She tossed it on the table with the others. She was putting too much thought into a party that was not even hers to begin with.

"I invited both Dean and Punk and they know about one another." She sat down on the bench and crossed her legs.

"Oh my! And you're still alive! No broken bones? How's that even possible?" The sarcasm in Kaitlyn's voice cracked AJ up.

"Hey, it's not always World War 3 in my love life!"

Kaitlyn laughed out loud and shook her head, "Good job AJ, I'm very proud of you."


End file.
